Quarantine
by Vicki-Boo
Summary: YES IT'S BACK! - Explanation of absence chap 20 - A case take an unusual, not to mention dangerous twist for the CSIs, with drama & suspense along the way... with fluff too! D/L, Fiesta, Mac/Peyton, possibly more...
1. Chapter 1, Girl Talk

_**Disclaimer I don't own anything I wish!**_

_**A/N – This isn't JUST a Danny/Lindsay story. This first chapter was just necessary so clear up some stuff so the rest of my story could happen.**_

_Stella, Lindsay, and Flack working a case of a murdered scientist. _

_Meanwhile, Mac, Danny, Hawks and Angell are just wrapping up the case of a suspected robbery which turned out to be faked for insurance money._

_**Chapter One – Girl Talk**_

_(__Stella and Lindsay are in a department SUV)_

"Rikki Sandoval? Are you kidding me?" Stella Bonasera stared in disbelief at her younger colleague. "And he just came straight out with all this?"

"Yep, last night" Lindsay answered quietly. When Stella had asked her if she was feeling okay, she fully intended to reply with a curt nod. Instead, she had spilled all the details of the previous night's conversation with her boyfriend. Now she was feeling as though she would live to regret it.

"AND? What did you say back?" Stella answered, struggling to keep her eyes fixed on the road ahead of them.

"I asked him why he was telling me this. I mean, I didn't know if he was trying to break up with me, or try and work things out with me..."

"Work things out? Again, are you kidding me? They guy cheated on you Lindsay! I want to be all calm and impartial here, but I never imagined this of Danny! I mean, this guy flew halfway across the country to be with you, and then he pulls a complete 180... I just... I don't know... Why did he..."

Lindsay cut off her friend's stuttering. "He's grieving Stell."

Stella was for once grateful of New York's infamous traffic jams. She whirled in her seat to face her friend. "WHAT? You're excusing him? He's blaming this on that poor little kid? You're actually forgiving him?"

Faltering ever so slightly under Stella's fierce questioning, Lindsay replied: "No he's not. He didn't expect me to forgive him, he said he just wanted things out in the open and I don't think I have – just so you know. I HAVE told him it's over, but I also told him that I'll still be there for him. As friends."

"Oh sure, 'coz that will be _so_ easy to do. I just don't understand how you could be so patient Linds. I couldn't, I don't give guys second chances". The traffic began to move slowly again, forcing Stella to split her attention once again.

"Look, it probably won't be easy, it's just... I understand Stella. I understand what he's going through, the grieving, the guilt, everything. I know what it's like to have something eating away at you, and you'll do anything to stop that, even for a few moments..."

She stopped her hurried speech abruptly, and turned to face away out the window. Eyeing Lindsay carefully out the corner of her eye, Stella let silence fill the vehicle while Lindsay composed herself.

"I'm not saying I forgive him. Not yet, maybe not ever. But I DO get why he slept with her, even if it makes my skin crawl to think about it. I mean, after my friends... after they... died, I did some pretty messed up stuff, stuff you probably wouldn't even believe"

Lindsay added the last part in response to Stella's raised eyebrows.

"I think I'd believe anything of a country girl" was the reply she got.

Lindsay smiled for the first time that day, a gesture that was mirrored back at her.

"I can't be a hypocrite Stella. I did much worse things than having a one night stand. When I look back, sometimes, I wonder... I mean, I was so young, and there were so many times...

Anyway, my point is, I still love him. I can't help it, and last night he said he loves me too. AND I believe him" She hastily added as Stella's eyebrows shot up once more.

Swinging the wheel as she turned a corner, Stella muttered, "Funny way of showing it". Silence filled the car once more, and once she could, Stella looked across to see Lindsay glaring at her.

"Oh I'm sorry Linds. I just... you know I don't have, let's say, the _best_ track record with guys. I'm just weary now, and I'm weary for you too. I don't want to see you get hurt. Well, hurt anymore anyway."

"I know, that's why I'm gonna make him sweat for a while. You know, let him show me just how sorry he is"

"I'm not stupid Lindsay; you can't just crack jokes and cover up how much you're hurting. You want to take a sick day today? Just clear your mind, relax? I'll cover for you" Stella smiled sympathetically as she pulled up the SUV in front of a very official looking building.

"Nah, s'ok Stell, I'm fine honestly. Hey, we're already here now, Danny's on another case. Come on, Flack's gonna be waiting for us. Look, I'm fine."

She ended with more conviction, as though she was convincing herself as much as anyone. Lindsay made a move to open the car door, before she was stopped by Stella laying a gentle hand on her wrist.

"Lindsay, what are you going to do? If you DO really love each other, you won't be able to just stay friends. And if you don't, then you aren't gonna be able to avoid him together. How are you going to work with him after this?"

Stella paused, mentally reprimanding herself for mentioning the lab. Lindsay needed a friend right now, not a boss.

"I don't know Stell, I figured that..." She cut her sentence short as she saw Flack approaching the vehicle. Stella followed her gaze until her eyes rested on the tall Detective.

Lindsay turned back to her colleague in time to see a strange expression on her face, one she hadn't seen before. Stella slid her eyes back to the woman beside her, and blushed slightly. Lindsay made to open the car door, still looking at Stella, while saying quietly but firmly: "We'll finish this later".

Both women exited the SUV, pleased that their conversation had to be ended, or at least put on hold. They both shrugged off their individual thoughts and went to the trunk to collect their kits.

Moments later they were greeted by Don Flack; "Good morning ladies. How are you this lovely New York morning? Woah, sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Lindsay just smiled, letting Stella reply; "We're fine thanks, and it's nothing. Just... ahh... girl talk".

Stella and Lindsay looked at each other briefly, before turning back to Flack.

_**A/ N – Reviews very much appreciated – but please remember this is my first ever FanFic! Thanks xxx**_


	2. Chapter 2, Glass Walls

**Chapter 2 – Glass Walls**

_(Danny and Hawks are in the layout room, starting to pack up evidence, Danny had just hung up his cell phone)_

"Mac?" Hawks enquired without looking up from the gun that he was packaging.

"Yeah", Danny replied, staring at his closed cell phone, his thoughts elsewhere.

"And? What did he say?" The gun now safely away, Hawks looked up at his colleague. "Hey! Earth to Danny! How did the interview go?"

"What? Oh yeah, Mac... He said, err, he gotta full confession from the guy. Crumbled when Mac showed him the fingerprints on the gun, and now he's beggin' the DA for a deal."

"Is he going to get one?"

"I dunno man; I'm a CSI not a lawyer. But now he's confessed... I guess if he gives up his brother as an accomplice... "Danny left his sentence hanging as he exhaled deeply.

"You never get over it huh?" Hawks' statement was met with just a questioning look. He continued: "Well, back when I was an M.E, I'd just get these bodies, and I'd find out what had happened to 'em, but never why. When I became I CSI, I figured that would change, working out motives and stuff. But you know, when you get cases like this," He gestured to the evidence before them. "It kinda makes me wish I didn't know."

Danny looked at him for a moment, before saying softly, "Yeah, blissful ignorance."

"Exactly, I mean these two brothers, they had it good. They had their own business together, nice houses, beautiful families. Then they risked everything, nearly killing one of their own employees, just to claim a couple of grand on their insurance? But just how can you put a price on a life? On a human life? I just don't get people sometimes, and you never get over what people will do to each other."

Danny nodded in response, and then yawned loudly, stretching his aching muscles. "Anything Hawks, that was the first thing I ever learnt on this job: people will do anything to each other. And on that pleasant note, whaddya say to a cup of coffee, God knows I need some caffeine!"

Sheldon smiled broadly, "What's the matter, have a late night? Besides, we gotta finish up here before Mac gets back."

Danny avoided the question, muttering, "Yeah, right, ok." under his breath, and settled into packing and sealing the rest of the evidence from their case, ready for storage.

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A while later, Danny and Sheldon had finished their task, and were just writing on the sealed boxes. En route to his office, Mac Taylor spotted his two CSIs, and poked his head around the door frame.

"Danny, Sheldon, good work you guys. We got him. I take it you're about done here? Good, I'd like you to just get the paperwork done on this case, and then you guys can go home early. Danny, looks like you need to go home and sleep" He added with a small smile.

"Gee thanks Mac, you look good too" Danny retorted, while Hawks just chuckled quietly.

Still smiling, Mac left them to it, and headed onto his office. Once there, he quickly shed his jacket, hanging it neatly on the rack beside his door. He sighed deeply and settled himself in his chair.

Before attacking his mountain of paperwork, he paused for a minute to survey his lab. He loved having glass walls; they allowed him just a few moments every day to let his mind wander.

While some might find them an invasion of privacy; he found them pleasant, giving the lab, _his _lab, a nice airy feel.

A stark contrast to the cases they dealt with, he thought suddenly, his train of thought once more focusing on the work that lay before him.

He shook his head, clearing his thoughts again. He needed a few minutes, just a few more minutes before he could carry on. He looked up once more:

Danny and Hawks were just leaving the layout room, as they ran into Det. Angell (presumably at the lab to close their case) who paused to speak with them for a while. After a hasty greeting, Danny carried on walking out of sight, towards (Mac guessed) the locker room.

Hawks and Angell on the other hand, stayed talking for a while, and Mac couldn't help but feel a small smile creep about his lips as he observed the two. Sheldon, with his back to Mac's office, was using quite animated hand gestures to illustrate whatever he was saying. It was obviously funny, as Angell was laughing hard, occasionally putting her hand on his arm.

At the other end of the lab, in Trace, Mac could see Adam and Kendal chatting as they analysed evidence. Even from a distance, it was easy to see that Adam was blushing about something, and Kendal obviously found that amusing. Her smirk was almost as noticeable as the colour on Adam's cheeks.

Just walking through the doors of the crime lab were Stella and Lindsay, who were both carrying a large evidence box each. They were followed closely by Flack, whom Mac could see was carrying three big evidence boxes.

The scene made Mac wonder whether the young detective's father would have ever done the same. No, definitely not, the man may have been hailed as a hero, but he would never have stepped foot in a crime lab (preferring 'old school methods'), nor would he have gone so out of his way just to help out and be a gentleman.

Stella was talking over her shoulder to Flack, who was grinning broadly behind all his boxes, while Lindsay expertly balanced her box with one hand while pulling her ringing cell out of her pocket and answering it.

As the trio walked near Hawks and Angell, he paused his conversation for a moment to stop Lindsay in her tracks and say something to her. She responded by tucking the phone between her cheek and shoulder, taking the three small evidence boxes Hawks held into her free hand, and then walked briskly to catch up with Stella and Flack.

Her actions gave Mac a sudden urge to check her resume. He couldn't recall what jobs she'd had before joining the Bozeman CSI lab, but seeing such balancing skills, he wouldn't be surprised to find a mention of waitressing, probably to get her through college.

Yes, Mac thought as he surveyed his team, he did indeed love those glass walls. They made him feel connected with his lab, with his team. He stopped scanning the scene when his eyes fell on the DNA lab. It held only one person: Andrews, the new lab tech. After making subtle observations about the rest of his colleagues, he couldn't help but draw a blank at this last person.

Mac had interviewed him personally, as with all of his staff. The young man was new to the city, having moved from Iowa. He had excellent qualifications, specifically in the field of DNA, and his IQ was rumoured to rival even Hawks. However, there was just something about him; he didn't have people skills like the rest, he couldn't make friends easily. He'd been working in the lab for almost two weeks now, and yet he still ate his lunch alone.

Mac had no doubt that his team were being accommodating, some went quite out of their way to be nice. Stella had given him tips about the parking lot, Lindsay had told him about when she'd moved to New York. Kendal, being the previous "newbie" had offered to buy him coffee, at which point the look on Adam's face had been so hilarious Mac had had to leave the room. Hawks helped show him where most of the equipment was and Danny... Well Danny was going through a rough patch at the moment.

Mac just couldn't pinpoint what it was. He just had a bad gut feeling when he looked in the direction of Andrews. Maybe he just felt guilty that the kid wasn't fitting in. He was probably bullied when he was younger...

Mac found himself brought out of his reverie by the shrill noise of his cell phone. He did a double take when he saw the caller ID, and paused for a moment before answering...

**A/N – I thought I'd put chapter 2 up now, just to bring the focus away from D/L. As much as I love them, this isn't a D/L-centric piece!**

**Anyway, review please! I'd love to know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3, Pigtails

**A/N – Thank you all for your lovely reviews – keep em coming! :D**

**ConfusedKinght – I did indeed mean wary, not weary, and Hawkes not Hawks. Thanks for the corrections!**

**FeatherGirl926 – Thanks for reviewing after writing such a long paper!**

**CriminalmindsCsinyfan87 – It's an honour to be on your alerts lists – thank you!**

**Kat Priestly – I'll keep trying to get the characters right – please tell me if I'm not!**

**CaRiNeSs – Let's keep D/L going eh? :D**

**This is completely 100 unbeta-d. Therefore, all mistakes (and there's probably lots of them) are my own :**

**So, on with the story – **

**Chapter Three – Pigtails**

_(Stella and Lindsay have just arrived at their crime scene, where they were greeted by Flack)_

"We're fine thanks, and it's nothing. Just... ahh... girl talk".

Stella and Lindsay looked at each other briefly, before turning back to Flack.

"Girl talk? Since when do you to have 'girl talk'?" Don Flack's blue eyes surveyed them both, from Lindsay's impassive, albeit pale and tired looking face, to Stella's flushed complexion. "On second thoughts, let's just leave it there; I'm not sure I want to know". He grinned at them both before briefing them, flipping from friendly to professional effortlessly.

"Our vic here is one Jackson Rivers, 32, single, lives alone. Moved to the city 6 years ago from Georgia, all his family's back there. Last seen last night, about 7, when the rest of his colleagues called it a day."

"He works here?" Stella interrupted, the rosy tinge along her cheeks gone, she too had turned businesslike. Having retrieved their kits, the two CSIs had started to follow Flack into the formidable building.

"Yep, some sort of scientist. Maybe you'll find something in common, you guys being nerds too and all."

His comment was spoken directly at Lindsay, testing the water to see if she'd smile. Flack hadn't known the young CSI long, but long enough to know when something was wrong. She didn't smile, or even acknowledge that she'd heard him.

He wondered if she had; she appeared to be lost in her own thoughts, staring blankly ahead of her as they began to climb a stairwell. Apparently she had more trouble switching personas than the other two.

He raised one eyebrow at Stella in question, prompting her to throw a furtive, sideways glance at Lindsay, and then shaking her head ever so slightly from side to side. He nodded back, having understood her silent message. He took immense pride from being on her wavelength. When they could say all they needed to without speaking a word, he couldn't help but let a childlike grin fall about his lips.

Stella quickly broke the silence, retorting loudly; "Well this nerd is gonna kick your sorry ass into shape unless you show us our crime scene detective." Her lips parted into a large smile, exposing her pearly white teeth for a moment.

Flack's laughter at Stella's playful response appeared to snap Lindsay out of her trance. "Who found him?"

His laughter ceased almost at once at her quiet words. "Cleaning crew, at 6.30 this morning. They saw they guy, saw the blood, and screamed and ran out. Say they never touched the body. So, you guys have had your coffee this morning right?"

Puzzled, Lindsay glanced at Stella before asking; "Huh? Why, what does that have to do with anything?"

Stella quickly added, "If you're offering, I'll take a milky cappuccino".

"Maybe I'll take you up on that Ms Bonasera, but right now, I was just thinking that you'll probably need the caffeine – you might be here a while..."

With that, Flack paused, pointing down a corridor in front of them. "After you, ladies."

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Lindsay was peeved to say the least. All she wanted to do was go home, have a long, hot bath, and indulge in a bit of self pity. Perhaps devour a few litres of chocolate ice cream. But no, she was here, being the good little CSI she was. With her forced smiles and the strong front she had perfected long ago. She still marvelled at how she could come across perfectly normal, even with an hour's sleep and a serious load on her mind.

She had seriously reprimanded herself for spilling everything to Stella in the car. Sure, Stella was a great friend, they'd been there for each other on their darkest days, shared countless cocktails and chick flicks, but she also knew Danny. And the supposedly "silent" conversation between her and Flack hadn't gone unnoticed by Lindsay. It's meaning had come across load and clear, she may have 

been brooding at the time, but she was still a CSI, and she still had women's intuition, and she wasn't stupid.

The last thing Lindsay wanted was to have her and Danny's best friends meddling. She knew Stella and Flack meant well, with only her best interests at heart, and she loved them for it... But if it was meant to be, then her and Danny would work things out in due time, but it couldn't be forced. And if it wasn't meant to be... well she didn't want to think about that just yet.

Right now, she had to focus on her job. She and Danny had vowed to keep things professional at work, and she'd be damned if she'd go back on her word now.

She heard Flack chuckling at some comment Stella had made, and envied them for being able to switch their professionalism on and off so easily. Mentally scolding herself for regressing into a sulky teenager, she cut off Don's laughter.

"Who found him?"

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Stella was mortified.

Please God, say I'm not blushing. What am I, a 12 year old kid in pigtails? She fought to retain her composure as Don Flack's icy blue eyes canvassed her face. He looked at Lindsay too, but she couldn't help but notice that his gaze lingered upon her face for a few moments longer. Or maybe she was imagining things.

One thing was certain, no other man she knew could make her feel like this, and in all her 37 years, she couldn't once remember blushing because of a _look._

It was those eyes – she was certain of it. Such a piercing blue, they only had to look at her a certain way, and she felt like one of the clichéd characters in the chick flicks she watched with Lindsay when they had a 'Girl's night in'.

She was glad he changed the subject; she wasn't sure how long she'd last before dying of embarrassment. She'd realised her feeling towards the tall detective a long time ago, but passed it off as a crush, and even as she felt those feelings deepen, she chose to ignore them.

There were just too many obstacles: they worked together, there was a fairly large age gap between them, they were friends, and most importantly, he didn't feel the same. She was sure of it.

Wasn't she?

Regardless, if he could pull off being professional, then so could she! Stella dutifully took in the victim's details, asking a question when she had one. But he'd teased them, and they'd had a moment. Another moment of getting lost in those vivid blue pools; she could happily drown in those forever.

But she couldn't drown now, not here. She had a job to do. She ended the growing silence with a quick retort, and decided to leave it there. She had a job to do, a job that required her full, undivided attention.

Even so, she couldn't help but make one more suggestive comment, hoping he caught the meaning behind it. After all, he could take her for coffee anytime, or drinks, maybe dinner...

She found her train of thought abruptly halted. They had reached their crime scene. Oh God, Flack was right, this was going to be one long shift.

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Flack let the two women enter the laboratory first, ducking under the crime scene tape in unison. He followed seconds later to find their mouths parted in astonishment.

He had thought the crime lab was sophisticated, with its fancy equipment and glass walls. But next to this place, it looked like a kid's playground. Although, this place did have one flaw at the moment...

"All this blood..." Stella said softly, obviously deep in thought.

"Flack... You sure there's not another body... there's just too much..." Lindsay's words trailed off.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Had the same thought too, but we've had uniform search the whole building, if there are other bodies, the killer took them with.

I'm gonna go finish collecting statement, you good?" Flack had yet to venture more than a few feet into the room.

Lindsay had already begun photographing the scene, holding the opinion that the sooner they started, the sooner they could finish. Stella, who had been slowly revolving on the spot, taking in the scene, turned back to Flack.

"Yeah, we're good. Catch you later?"

"Count on it". His cheeky grin was accompanied by a quick wink, as he made his hasty retreat. He was halfway down the corridor before he heard Stella's soft voice.

"Right kiddo, where the hell do we start?"

**A/N – I know, this is a weird kind of chapter, just building up to the good stuff! After writing Mac's thoughts in the previous instalment, I thought I'd have a crack at some other people this time. Let me know what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4, Easy Does It

**A /N – OOOFT reviews... **

**CrImInAlMiNdScSiNyFaN87 – you're just awesome tbh. Thanks for reviewing again! And lots more Flack / Stella goodness to come!**

**Hockey mom – Thanks, I kinda like that line myself. And ahh... flack's eyes, couldn't we all? :D**

**Kat Priestly – Yeah I was thinking of going down the Hawkes/Angell route in later chapters, what do you think?**

**Bec0512 – thanks for your review, hope you like the next chap!**

**And also, before I start, I'm really confused about something...**

**Is Angell's first name Jessica or Jennifer? Different people seem to write different things. Please let me know what you think – I'll probably go with the majority opinion!**

**Okay, let's get this show on the road...**

**Chapter Four – Easy Does It**

_(Lindsay and Stella have arrived at a crime scene, Flack has just left them to go collect statements)_

"Right kiddo, where the hell do we start?" Stella gently put down her kit near her feet and looked apprehensively at her colleague.

Lindsay stopped clicking her camera for a moment, but still held it to her face. As she slowly lowered it, she said in a small voice, "I don't know Stell, I just don't know".

The copious amount of blood was obviously bringing back painful memories of her friend's murders. But with a slight shiver, she shook her head and began snapping pictures once more.

The room in which they stood was truly a mess. In the centre of the room, a man's body could be seen slumped through a glass table. It seemed he'd been pushed through it, with one large shard of glass protruding through his back. Blood had pooled beneath him, and was also splattered all over the room.

Whoever had done this clearly had a lot of rage. Shelves and cabinets had been pushed over, expensive equipment apparently thrown from one end of the laboratory to the other. The floor was littered with the remains of dozens of test tubes and beakers. The two chairs in the room looked as though they had been used as weapons in the destruction of the scene, one was broken, the other halfway out of a window.

"After all, you're the boss" she added with a smile.

"Hmmm, bad day to be the boss huh? Okay, you seem to be making a good start with the pictures, once you've done the wide angles, take a tonne of evidence markers, use a macro lens and make a start on the individual bloodstains. I'll start on the broken glass and those bloody footprints, and we'll make our way to the centre of the room to the body, so we don't disturb anything. Sound ok to you?"

Lindsay, who had paused her task while Stella spoke, smiled broadly and answered "Sounds great. Some of this equipment is pretty big though, we got microscopes, scanners, what looks like apparatus for transmission electron microscopy. They've got stuff I've only read about in journals, and stuff I can't even recognise. And it's all covered in blood splatter. What kind of lab was this again?"

"I don't know, hopefully Flack can tell us when he gets back. From the looks of the equipment though, I'd guess that we're looking at something in biology maybe?" Stella stretched before bending down to pick up her camera. "There's no way I'm gonna get through this without an incentive. How about we make a pit stop on our way back to the lab? You know, refuel?"

Lindsay chuckled. "Starbucks?"

"You know it".

Both women smiled at each other, before turning back to their individual tasks.

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A short while later, the two CSIs had made remarkable progress and they were both sensing light at the end of the tunnel. Stella had collected broken glass from windows, shelving units, the glass work surfaces, test tubes, beakers and bizarrely, some green fragments that looked to be from a wine bottle. She had carefully documented one clear set of bloody footprints which traced the killer's path from the body, to the door, and then stopped, oddly enough.

Lindsay, meanwhile, had taken what felt like thousands of photographs of the room and the high-tech equipment. She had paused while photographing the walls.

"You know Stell, the blood stains on the walls? It's not high or even medium velocity spatter. It's not cast off either, it kind of reminds me of... never mind."

"No, go ahead Linds, what were you thinking?"

"Well, when I was growing up, my brothers and I used to have water balloon fights. And one time, to cut a long story short, I ran into the house and they followed me. They ended up missing me and hitting the wall behind me, which left a pattern a lot like that." She finished me pointing at the wall.

"So you think the killer had water balloons with blood, and decided to vandalize this laboratory with it?"

"No, I'm just thinking, that some of those test tubes and beakers have blood on them, what if they _contained_ blood, and were then thrown at the wall...?"

Stella couldn't help but smile at the women before her. "And that... is why Mac hired you. So, did your mom ground you and your brothers or something?"

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It was beginning to get dark. The room had been photographed, the masses of evidence bags packed safely into boxes for transport back to the lab. Most of the equipment and apparatus were too big to be taken in the SUV, but there were still a couple of large, and not to mention heavy, boxes containing microscopes. The M.E had come and gone again with the body. Both Lindsay and Stella were crouched under one of the broken work surfaces, when Flack re-entered the room.

"Hey you guys, how's it going in here? Ouch." He paused, looking at the five evidence boxes stacked near the door. "You CSI types don't travel light huh?"

Stella answered him without looking up; she appeared instead to be focused on something Lindsay was doing. "What you're looking at detective, is almost seven hour's worth of solid processing. And if those boxes don't contain all the answers to this case, I'm gonna need some serious retail therapy!"

"Nice" came the reply, "You ah, not quite finished? One of your boxes isn't sealed."

"Nearly, we were just about to call it a day when Linds spotted some broken glass under here that doesn't have any blood on it... So we're guessing it got here _after_ the murder took place, 'coz I don't think anyone _could _have wiped it down. Either way, we have the very edge of a bloody fingerprint on one piece."

"Enough to run through AFIS?"

"Nah, we're not that lucky."

Don Flack stood in the doorway in the slowly darkening room, confused. Lindsay had yet to speak, and neither had looked at him, and whatever they were doing was obviously interesting.

"I don't think you two have moved an inch since I got here. Something wrong?"

"Don, just shh a minute okay? We just...need...to... concentrate."

He started to say something more, but stopped when he saw Stella's hand fly up to stop him. Curiosity peaked; he picked his way slowly across the room towards the two CSIs, and leaned slowly over Stella's shoulder, unnoticed by either of the women.

Lindsay's jaw was set, her brow furrowed in concentration, and her brown eyes narrowed in determination. Her small hands were supporting a glass conical flask. It was badly cracked, and the pale blue liquid inside was in great danger of spilling everywhere is the fragile container was to shatter. As Lindsay held it, Stella was trying to cautiously ease the flask out of its rack, and into a secure container, where three damaged flasks could already be seen. Her face couldn't be seen from Flack's present position, but he was sure she would look as deep in concentration as Lindsay.

"Come on... easy does it... we nearly... GOT IT!" Stella exclaimed triumphantly.

As soon as the last of the containers were secure, Flack said softly "So whaddya have there, ladies?"

Stella, unaware he was standing so close, had jumped violently, whipping her head around and cricking her neck. "JESUS FLACK, what are you doing creeping up on us?! You could have made us break evidence! What if..." She trailed off, suddenly aware she was overreacting. Lindsay was stifling giggles, and she was certain Don was holding back one of his trademark grins.

Saving her friend from embarrassment, Lindsay straightened her face and caught Flack's attention. "Well, Stella realized that these look really out of place with the rest of the equipment. They look like they belong in a chemistry lab, not a biology lab, like we assumed this is...?" She left her sentence hanging, with a questioning look at Flack, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's what I got from the co-workers."

"Exactly, so they're out of place. If we can identify the blue liquid, then maybe we can identify its source, and find out how it got here..."

Stella interrupted her colleague: "Yeah, and if _someone_ had made us break them, then we might not have been able to do that." Her tone was more playful this time, having recovered from her shock. Flack sensed her tone and saw the sparkle in her eyes, giving him the green light for a little flirtatious banter.

"Well Ms Bonasera, you have my deepest apologies for startling you. Perhaps you'd let me rub that sore neck to make it up to you?" Try as he might, he couldn't stay coy, chuckling as he ended his sentence. "Or maybe you'd allow me to help you carry all these boxes back to the lab?"

"You don't have to do that! I mean, you _better_ help us down to the car, but the lab's way out of your route! Right Linds?"

Lindsay had been staring at her cell, which was vibrating. Cancelling the call, she looked up. "Well, if he wants to muck in with the rest of us, who are we to turn him down? Thanks Flack, I don't think we're in the right footwear for heavy lifting."

Catching Stella's mutinous expression, Lindsay smiled to herself. Yes, easy does it, she thought. She and Danny had danced around things far too long, she wasn't about to see Stella and Flack do the same. Her face fell as she thought of Danny, and looked once more at the cell phone still in her hand.

"Okay, so you're done now right? Which boxes are ya gonna trust me with?"

Stella and Flack slid back into their easy banter, as they walked towards the exit.

"Hey Lindsay, you coming? I think Starbucks is calling out to us" Stella smiled at her friend, eyes full of sympathy. She had a good idea whose calls her friend was ignoring.

Lindsay responded by thrusting her phone back into her pocket and striding over to the boxes, picking one up.

"You know, I think I could use a muffin now too."

**A/N - Make me happy... review please! xxx**


	5. Chapter 5, Caller ID

**A/N – Thanks again for your reviews...**

**Laplandgurl – I'm glad that you think my story has got better! And I'm flattered it's found its way to your favourites list!**

**Kat Priestly – Thanks for reviewing again, I hope you like chap 5!**

**And here we go...**

**Chapter Five – Caller ID**

_(Danny is in the locker room, at the lab)_

Danny Messer sat with his head in his hands. He was disgusted with himself. A few weeks ago, he would have killed anyone who tried to hurt his Montana. Then a little boy had died, clouding Danny's whole world with guilt, he had tried to ease his conscience and halt the pain of grief the only way he knew how. And he had ended up hurting her himself.

At first, he couldn't see anything wrong with his actions. Sharing his feelings with Lindsay would drag up bad memories of her past, and even though he was going through hell, he would still try and protect her.

And so he turned to Rikki, the only other person who could fathom what he was going through. He told her how guilty he felt about not getting her son home safely. She spilled everything about how lonely she was since Reuben died, how her life felt empty.

He tried to make her feel better, take away her loneliness, and in doing so, he took away some of his own. He had been pushing Lindsay away, to protect her, and in doing so he made himself very isolated. For those few moments alone with Rikki, he forgot his guilt, the pain was dulled, and he just enjoyed the intimate contact with another human again.

He made her breakfast, even spoke to Lindsay on the phone while doing so. The mere memory of it made him feel sick. He didn't think he could ever eat omelette again. He kissed Rikki, he held her. And then, he realised that she wasn't Lindsay, she wasn't his Montana.

After she left, he threw out his sheets, binned that pink shirt, and got rid of any trace of Rikki in his apartment. Then he had a shower and stayed under the warm spray for a long time.

He thought about all the other mistakes in his life, and how they all seemed insignificant next to his latest screw up. He thought about how he would fix it, the thought of not telling Lindsay crossed his mind for less than a second. She deserved the truth. No, she deserved better than to be cheated on in the first place.

And so last night, he'd told her. He expected her to scream at him, call him names, throw things, and maybe take a couple of swings at him. What he did not expect was that she'd sat quietly, taking 

in all he'd had to say. With a sombre expression on her face, and tears dripping gently down her face, she waited until he'd finished, then said "ok". That was it, all she said at first, just 'ok'.

He started to speak again when she stopped him. She asked him why he'd told her, to break up or make things better. They'd ended up talking for hours. They talked about her murdered friends, about Louie, about Reuben. She'd ended by saying she couldn't do this right now, but that she understood why he'd done it, and that she'd still be there for him. As a friend.

Those last words had almost killed him. Just friends, again. He'd responded by asking if they were over, and then his world had been lightened once more by two simple words: _for now_. Those two words had given him so much hope. They were over _for now_, but they could be together again one day, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Her could win her back, make it up to her. He didn't yet know how, but he was going to do it or die trying, he knew that much. He was going to spend each day earning her forgiveness, and he'd start today. But by God how he loved that woman. He'd finally plucked up the courage to tell her last night, but he wasn't sure if she believed him. And he didn't blame her.

He couldn't believe how understanding she'd been, how compassionate. Her actions made him doubt his worthiness of her, she was just too perfect. But he pushed those feelings aside, after this, nobody could ever treat her better, he'd make sure of it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. It lay in front of him on the locker room bench. Looking at the caller ID, he sighed deeply before answering.

_"Rikki, hey thanks for calling me back."_

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Lindsay Monroe walked through the doors of the crime lab with Stella beside her. She scanned the lab quickly; thankful for the glass walls that made this task easy. Not seeing Danny, (and being grateful for it) she slightly shifted the evidence box in her hands and began walking towards the evidence locker.

She could see Mac in his office, leaning back in his chair with his fingertips together, just looking out through his office walls.

Adam was lobster red as he processed evidence from one of night shift's cases. As she walked closer, Lindsay could see that Kendal, in the room with him, was blushing ever so slightly too, before she nodded at something Adam said. Walking past the open door, Lindsay distinctly heard him say, "I'll pick you up at eight then?"

She tore her eyes away from the two lab techs before she was caught staring, and focused her eyes upon Hawkes and Angell. They were stood around the corner from her, just outside the layout room. Despite holding three small evidence boxes, he was still illustrating what he was saying with wide hand gestures. From his windmill-like arms, Lindsay guessed he was telling Angell the story of when Adam had bumped into him on the stairs, and they had both almost fallen. Sure, Lindsay had chuckled when she'd heard, but Angell was laughing hard. Actually, a bit too hard, the story wasn't _that _funny. But then Angell laid her hand upon Hawkes' now stationary arm, and Lindsay could see what was _really_ going on.

Behind Lindsay was Flack carrying by far the lion's share of the evidence, grinning broadly at something Stella had said over her shoulder. Ever since they'd left the crime scene, they had been chatting nonstop: teasing, flirting. The latest comment from Stella was in reference to Flack spilling his coffee in Starbucks. He simply responded with a dig at her logic – she'd chosen a skinny cappuccino, put in skimmed milk, and then joined Lindsay by having a large chocolate muffin.

Their playful banter was reminiscent of how she and Danny used to be, and Lindsay was just lamenting that fact when her cell began to ring.

Balancing her evidence box on one hand, she fished the phone out of her pocket to find it had already stopped ringing, but that she had a voicemail. She sighed and held the phone to her ear, listening to the message as she walked on with Flack following them, and Stella giving her questioning sideways glances.

As they walked past Hawkes and Angell, he stopped her and asked if she'd do him a favour. Pulling the phone away from her ear she said, "Hey Stella! I'll just be a second; I'll catch you and Flack up... Sure, what's up Doc?"

Both she and Hawkes smiled at each other, appreciating their inside joke, while Angell just looked on, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Lindsay noticed, and felt slightly guilty, immediately exchanging greetings with the detective.

"Well, looking at your burden there, am I right in thinking you're headed to the evidence locker? I wouldn't ask Linds, but...I was just... erm... wondering..."

"You want me to take yours too?" Lindsay interrupted the former M.E, not needing him to spell anything out.

"Would you mind? It's just..."

It was Lindsay's cell phone that interrupted Hawkes this time. It was still in her hand, and looking at the caller ID she sighed deeply before answering it.

_"Hi, I'm sorry could you just give me a minute?... Thanks!"_

With excellent balance, she tucked the cell between her cheek and shoulder, and took Hawkes' three small boxes with her free hand.

"Linds, are you sure you can manage those?" Hawkes enquired softly.

Nodding, and mouthing that she'd be fine, she walked quickly onwards down the corridor. Lindsay waited before she was out of earshot before talking into her cell.

_"Hi Mrs Messer, sorry about that. What can I do for you?"_

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At the same moment, Mac Taylor's cell also began to ring. He did a double take when he saw the caller ID, and paused for a moment before answering.

_"Peyton, it's been a while..."_

**A/N – I know I could have added a scene in Starbucks, but the beginning of the story is taking longer than I thought, and I'm trying to get to the good stuff before you guys get bored!**

**Anyway, reviews, as ever, are more than welcome! And no one has yet ended my confusion with Angell's first name... Any opinions would be much appreciated!**


	6. Chapter 6, Fishbowl

**A/N – Thanks again so much for all your lovely reviews! I honestly didn't expect people to be so nice – you people make me v happy! :D**

**But saying that, i think i'll leave you in suspense about those phonecalls just a little longer...**

**Chapter Six - Fishbowl**

Ever since Kendal joined the crime lab, Adam had been fairly smitten. She was everything he likes in a woman: smart, funny, not to mention drop dead gorgeous.

But he was awkward around chicks, they often didn't get his humour, thought that he was just a nerd. Some thought he was too obsessed with video games, and some disliked his strange taste in music.

Kendal didn't. She laughed at him sometimes, they shared inside jokes. She didn't think he was a nerd, just smart. She'd impressed him by humming some of his favourite songs while she was working, and she'd confessed to him that she'd probably kick his ass at most video games.

She was everything he likes in a woman. The night before the Statue of Liberty case, she'd challenged him. Whichever video game he wanted, they'd play, winner got bragging rights. But they'd also had beer, and soon the games were left forgotten.

They both ended up drunk, she more so than him, so he'd been the gentleman. He'd had her crash at his place to save her going home at night, covered her with a blanket and told her he'd see her in the morning. But then he'd passed out himself.

Adam had fully intended to get up early, make her breakfast and show her his sweet natured side. He was going to stop at nothing to woo her, if Danny could pull all those hot girls, why couldn't he? He didn't let himself answer that question. As it was, they'd both woken up late, and had no time for any romance - they'd both had to rush straigh to the lab.

They'd worked together a lot since that night. She was obviously surprised that he hadn't taken advantage in her drunken state, and it made her trust him. They shared a lot of flirty banter since, too. Or at least, Adam had attempted at it; he just didn't seem to have a natural talent for it like other people at the lab. But at least he tried.

He'd woken up this morning, determined to try harder. As much as he loved hanging out with Kendal, he knew he wanted more, and today, he was going to find out if she did too. He kept his determination through breakfast, on the subway, even in the locker room as he put his things away. He'd been assigned to process some things for the night shift, and as he walked into Trace his stomach constricted into tight knots. There she was, his perfect girl, all alone, just ready for him to make his move. She looked up at him.

And he lost his determination.

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Ever since Kendal joined the crime lab, Adam had been fairly smitten, and she knew it. As a pretty girl, she'd never had to try too hard to win admirers, but all she'd ever win was sleaze balls interested in one thing.

He was different, everything she liked in a guy really. Sure, he was awkward around her and the rest of the female population, but she thought that was sweet. He shared her sense of humour, her musical taste, and hell, he even liked that she played video games. She's grown up playing them with her three brothers, something regarded as embarrassing and un-feminine by previous boyfriends.

He'd been surprised, but taken her up on her video game challenge. By the end of that night, they'd forgotten all about the games anyway, focusing more on the countless beers they'd thrown back. That was another thing she liked, he hadn't said a word when she'd asked for a beer. Most guys would insult her by assuming she'd want a fruity little cocktail or something.

That night, Adam had shown his true colours. He was a stand-up guy. She'd spent the whole night passed out on his couch in her underwear, and he hadn't even made a move. At first that upset her, wondering if he didn't like her back, but she soon saw that he was just being a gentleman. And she liked that in a guy.

Ever since, they'd messed around together; with playful teasing and such. He was by no means an expert at it, but he'd tried so hard, and he was so sweet. It just made him even cuter in Kendal's eyes.

This morning, she'd seen him striding through the lab with his head held high, and it made her wonder what was up. However, she had to put her wondering aside, as she was quickly assigned to work evidence from the nightshift. Not even fifteen minutes after she'd got to work, she heard Adam enter Trace.

She looked up, ready to greet him, ready to ask why he'd looked so cheerful this morning. But at that moment, he hadn't looked cheerful, he looked like he was going to be sick.

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"Hey" She asked him brightly, preparing to cheer him up.

"Umm, m...morning Kendall" He stammered back at her.

"Erm, Adam, are you okay?"

"Y...Yeah, I mean, of ...of course, why?"

"Because it's 8pm?"

His face immediately flushed, and went darker to the colour of beetroot when he realised Hawkes and that pretty homicide detective were stood a shirt way down the corridor. The door of Trace was open, and by the looks of it, they could hear him.

_Oh great, real smooth... now she thinks you can't tell morning from night. Way to go genius. And even better? Thanks to those damn glass walls, not only can everyone HEAR you making a fool of yourself, they can SEE you too. Great._

"Oh yeah, right, sorry"

Kendal's stomach gave a guilty squirm.

_Oh well done Kendal, just embarrass the poor guy! Do Hawkes and that detective REALLY have to stand there and watch this too! Jeez, it's like living in a fishbowl!_

"Don't be sorry – you just look like you have something on your mind."

"No I'm good" Adam looked at his feet and mentally kicked himself. It was now or never. He walked over to the table and stood next her. He began swabbing and processing the evidence before him, giving himself something to focus on.

"You know Kendal, actually there was something to ask." He looked up for a moment, but she wasn't looking at him. Focusing instead on the evidence she was fingerprinting.

"Yeah, what's up Adam?" Kendal kept her head bowed, she could feel her cheeks burning and she really didn't want him to notice.

Both Adam and Kendal forgot about the CSI and the detective down the hall who were already observing them. Neither did they notice that Mac Taylor was quietly watching them from his office, nor that Lindsay Monroe was watching them too, as she walked past the room with Stella and Detective Flack. Their senses were temporarily absorbed in each other.

"Iwaswonderingifyou'dletmetakeyoutodinnertomorrownight" Adam said his sentence as fast as possible, in one short, hurried breath.

"I'm sorry? Didn't quite catch that." Kendal looked up, the rosy tinge along her cheeks becoming more prominent. She was trying (and failing) not to smile.

That beautiful smile, which he loved so much, yet usually made Adam's consciousness to become lost, gave him back his courage... and his determination.

"I said: would you let me take you to dinner tomorrow night?" He repeated slowly and quietly.

"Sure" She replied just as quietly, nodding.

"I'll pick you up at eight then?" He spoke louder this time, barely able to keep the glee and disbelief out of his voice. He was slowly regaining his senses. He could feel his heart beating furiously, the blood was roaring in his ears, then he looked around.

_I've got a date with Kendal! She said yes! WOOP! Who's your daddy now! ... Phew... I should really get back to work now... I think Mac's watching me...but still... I've got a date with Kendal!_

"Sounds good, I'll look forward to it" Kendal was also regaining her composure as she turned back to her fingerprinting dust.

_He actually did it, he actually asked me out! Wow, I never knew he had it in him – I was scared I was going to have to make the first move. I mean, I would have done long ago, but I didn't want to seem desperate. He better live up to my expectations though – God knows how I bore easily... Now, what should I wear...? _

**A/N – I'm working all weekend, so I thought I'd crank out a couple of little baby filler chappies – next up is Hawkes and Angell. Let me know what you think! I live and breathe reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7, Blasphemy

**A/N – :D Lots of lovely reviews – thanks you so much! As promised, here's the chap on Hawkes and Angell. I went with majority opinion and decided she'd be a Jessica in this fic – thanks for all your opinions on that!**

**Chapter Seven – Blasphemy**

She'd never made the first move on a guy. Most of the time, she'd not even make a second move. She'd never really had to, but Angell's firm belief was that if a guy cared that much, he'd keep trying. But she wasn't a tease, she'd tell herself, just liked playing hard to get; she enjoyed the chase.

That hadn't worked recently. For all her flirting with Don Flack, he hadn't made a single move; nothing had happened. And if Stella Bonasera was nearby, she'd become as insignificant as floor tiles.

He didn't mean it of course, the poor guy was just hung up, and she hoped it was mutual between him and Stella; despite what had happened (or hadn't happened) between them, Angell still counted him as a good friend, and she didn't want him to get hurt.

So she tried being his friend, making jokes and teasing him about his taste in ties. He was seemingly oblivious to her feelings towards him, gently flirting back, telling her she looked good in Kevlar. To him, it was a simple flirty comment, an everyday occurrence to him. But to her, they were words that made her stomach knot and her breath catch in her throat.

But she was a good friend, she cared about him; wanted to see him happy. And if he was going to be happy with Bonasera, then so be it.

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He didn't have the best dating record. Women were annoyed by his work schedules; they didn't like to come second to dead bodies. In med school, he'd had one girlfriend. Not several like some of his fellow students, just one. And he'd loved her.

It was true, most of their spare time was spent studying and such, but in their free time, while his friends were getting drunk and smoking weed, he was planning his next romantic date. He'd take her out to dinner in the evenings, prepare picnics for lazy Sunday lunches, and drive them out to the middle of nowhere at night, just to sit under the stars together.

Sheldon Hawkes was a true romantic, believed in fate, destiny and soul mates, and he believed that she was the very definition of all three.

After he'd caught her in bed with their biology professor, (which she'd ended up passing with flying colous - non suprisingly) he'd decided to get a new dictionary.

Since then, he'd not found a woman quite the same. Sure, he'd been on lots of dates, some excellent ones. But in the end, all his relationships would fall apart. It was the same when he was a doctor, an M.E, or even now as a CSI. He'd always be happy and obliging to get up in the dead of night and be called into a patient, or a body, or a gruesome crime scene. His lady friends weren't so happy. And so none of them had stuck around.

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So Angell was going to be the good friend to Flack; the pal, the buddy. It should have given her a feeling of pride, or even happiness, like people do when they've done a good deed. The only feeling she actually had, was that she felt like trash.

She'd phoned him a while ago, to see if he'd wanted to grab some beers later that night. He was at a Starbucks, and even as she said it, she heard him curse, followed by the loud, distinctive laugher of Stella Bonasera, and another woman whom Angell couldn't identify. He'd hurriedly told her she'd spilt his coffee everywhere, and that he'd phone her back.

Like the good guy that he was, he'd rang her back within five minutes, but she really didn't want to speak to him with other women there, especially Stella, so Jess had rejected the call. Then she'd stepped off an elevator, into the crime lab, and went to get on with her job. She was at the crime lab to finish up on the insurance scam case, and then she'd go back to the precinct, file her paperwork, and finally call it a day... a very long day.

She was planning her activities for the night ahead; a bath, a beer, maybe put on her iPod full blast, seeing as her neighbours complained about her stereo last time... She was so lost in her thoughts; she nearly bumped right into Sheldon Hawkes and Danny Messer.

She would have been embarrassed, had they not been so distracted themselves. Danny had said hello, but also immediately left again. Sheldon hadn't though; he'd stopped to chat to her for a while. Not about a case either, like with some CSIs: they'd get the information from you and move right on, not caring for small talk.

Hawkes was different though; she could see that. He was smart, oh yeah, definitely smart, but sensitive too, caring and sweet. Normally this wasn't her type; she liked her men to be _men, _who drank beer, watched football, and swore at the players while doing so.

She'd always liked Sheldon though, always found him pleasant, but that was it, never anything more. Well, it wasn't like he was a sissy or anything. He was definitely masculine, she could see his broad shoulders and large biceps through a baggy labcoat. And seemed guys who were her type didn't really notice her anymore. Maybe it was time to change her type...

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After a few unsuccessful relationships, Sheldon realised that any potential girlfriend would have to have the same crazy working hours as himself, or would have to understand the importance of his job. His perfect girl would fit both descriptions.

However, he didn't purposely go out of his way to get someone, even if his definitions had changed, he still believed in fate and destiny, and what was meant to be. He'd wait until something found him.

Then today, he'd had that awful case, a young woman had almost died, purely because of her boss's greed. The thought made him sick. He'd gone to the hospital to collect the evidence, and found himself staring around at the machines and equipment, the doctors, nurses and patients. One thought filled his mind - he'd come a long way, but not quite far enough.

He'd finished the processing with Danny, and if he wasn't so disgusted with the suspects, Hawkes might have been his usual, perceptive self and noticed that tiredness wasn't the only thing wrong with Danny.

When Sheldon had finished that case, he was lost in his own thoughts, contemplating the morality of people. He'd left the layout room with Danny, and almost ran straight into Detective Angell, who'd clearly been walking towards them, presumably to wrap up the case.

Danny had greeted her and excused himself in seconds, but Sheldon stayed for a while. He'd always liked Jess; she was funny, smart... pretty. She probably wouldn't see anything in a guy like him, but he could give it shot. The case had given him a new light in which to view things. He was tired of waiting around for something to happen, he'd have to make things happen himself.

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Sheldon Hawkes was apologising profusely to her. Sure, Danny had almost knocked her flying too, but he'd just mumbled his hellos and left. Detective Angell, however was unperturbed.

"Don't worry! It was my fault anyways, I was miles away."

"No, honestly you think you're bad, have I ever told you about the time Adam had his headphones in, not paying attention and nearly bumped me down the stairs?"

In reality, Angell had heard this story from Flack before, but she pretended otherwise, listened to Sheldon intently, laughing hard at his impersonations, even placing a gentle touch on his arm. She wasn't playing hard to get this time, she was sending out _all_ the signals.

She could tell he was surprised, but definitely thrilled to have her engaging so well with him. Jess asked which lab tech Adam was. He'd gestured over her shoulder, at Adam, who was with Kendal, both looking flushed. From the look s they were getting, it was clear the two techs thought that Jess had been laughing at them.

Angell, feeling guilty, turned back to Hawkes and made a mental note to avoid those two lab techs in the future.

"So, remind me not to walk down stairs with you. Those windmill arms could decapitate someone ya know!" She immediately regretted teasing him; she didn't really know him well enough to know if he could take it. However, it appeared he could.

"Well if you don't feel safe on the stairs, maybe you'd feel safer in the break room; maybe grab a cup of coffee? I'll keep my windmill arms to myself, promise"

She looked into his deep brown eyes and smiled. Maybe playing hard to get could be fun, but this way was so much easier. Angell nodded, still wondering why she'd never tried getting guys like this before. Who knew some fake laughing and a couple of pats on the arm would work so fast?

She'd been wondering if this technique would have worked on Flack when she'd realised she and Hawkes were no longer alone. He'd called Monroe over, and was asking her to take his evidence boxes for him, presumably so he could go with Jess.

Angell immediately felt guilty for thinking about another guy while arranging to get coffee with another, and she realised Monroe had seen the uncomfortable expression on her face. Thankfully, she misinterpreted it as Jess just feeling left out, and expressed hurried greetings.

Lindsay Monroe had left them alone once more, after her cell phone had begun to ring. She excused herself, and took Hawkes' boxes, carrying them, her own and a cell phone with multitasking skills any woman would be proud of.

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Sheldon was silently praising Lindsay's balance. It would have taken him so long to log in his evidence, he was sure Angell would have had to leave. And opportunities like this didn't happen to him very often.

He'd felt bad that Adam thought he was they were laughing at him. It wasn't the case at all, Hawkes had been making fun out of himself more than anyone. Feeling guilty, he made a mental note to explain later.

He asked her for coffee on a whim, expecting her to turn him down flat, or if she was feeling nice, maybe throw him some flimsy excuse. He wasn't expecting her to nod and throw him that dazzling smile. Now she'd said yes, however, she was silently berating himself.

_Of all places, the break room? What happened the Sheldon Hawkes, "the great romantic"? _

He calmed himself by deciding that this wasn't even a date, but maybe, while they were drinking their coffee, he'd ask her out for tomorrow night. Yes, that was perfect.

"Ok, then Jess." He gestured behind down the hall behind her, and they began walking in the direction of the break room. "I'm afraid our coffee selection is limited. You don't want decaff right? It's like blasphemy here..."

**A/N – I won't keep you in suspense much longer. The next chap will definitely move forward with the story – and expect it up by tonight! **


	8. Chapter 8, Fresh Start

**A/N – Okay, so I haven't updated in a four whole days! It's not that long I know, but after getting up seven chapters in three days, it felt like an eternity! **

**Truth is, I started writing this fic with no planning, and I got a little stuck! I'm back on track now though YAY!!**

**Thanks for your amazing reviews, they really do mean a lot! I hope this chap eases some of the suspense...**

**(Bold type is Danny's speech, italic is Rikki's)**

**Chapter Eight – Fresh Start**

"**Rikki, hey thanks for calling me back**"

"_Um, sure no problem..."_

There was silence as Danny paused, contemplating the words of his next sentence

"**I told Lindsay. I told her everything about... us"**

"_Yeah? How did she take it? Should I expect a car bomb or something?"_

"**No! She'd never do anything like that, she's too... erm, anyway, she took it really well. Better than I expected".**

Danny had to restrain himself from jumping in to defend his girlfriend...or ex-girlfriend as he remembered with a painful twinge. Rikki probably meant nothing by it, just making a joke, he assumed.

"_Erm, ok. Good for you, but what does that have to do with me? Why did you call me?"_

Rikki was blunt, getting straight to the point, and sounding quite irritable.

"**Well, I've decided to move apartments. I've gotta show her she can trust me, and with us living down the hall from each other..."**

"_So, she's making you MOVE? Who the hell does she think she is?"_

"**It wasn't her idea, I haven't even told her yet, I..."**

"_Whatever Danny, but why are you telling me? Did you want me to beg you to stay? Help you pack? Or maybe have a quick one before you go?"_

"**God no Rikki! Nothing like that, I'm just... I... I wanted to make sure you were ok..."**

"_Oh really? Is that what you were doing last week? Seeing If I were ok? You know what Danny? Just step off okay? I don't need you trying to protect me from everything, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself!_

The volume of Rikki's voice was rising rapidly, causing Danny to hold his cell phone a couple of inches away from his ear.

"**Rikki, I just... I'm trying to do the right thing here. I want to make sure you're gonna be okay, I'm sorry if you don't like that. But we're friends, I care about you, I'm worried..."**

"_You're worried? Oh please, cut the bullshit Danny. You just feel guilty over YET another thing, and now you're trying to ease your conscience."_

Danny exhaled slowly, becoming frustrated. The dig about him feeling guilty struck him hard, it was below the belt. Sure, he WAS feeling guilty, but he was also telling the truth, he just wanted to ensure her well being.

"**You know what Rikki? You're right, I do feel guilty. I feel guilty EVERY FREAKING DAY! I can't sleep, 'coz all I see is Rueben's face. I can't eat 'coz I feel sick about what I've done to Lindsay. I can't do my job 'coz I can't focus on ANYTHING."**

"_Danny, I really couldn't care less how you feel. I mean, I never cared about you. That night was about making me feel better, about stopping the loneliness for a while; nothing more. So you're moving? Good for you, but are you actually that conceited that you think I'd give a crap?"_

Danny's mouth was slightly parted as he listened, shocked at her callous tone. He thought for a moment how much she'd changed since Rueben's death, but then realised that she could have always been this way. He'd hung out with Rueben quite a lot, but in reality, he'd only ever had a handful of conversations with Rikki that had stretched past a greeting in the hall.

"**Rikki, I..."**

"_Well guess what Danny, I'm moving too; Florida. The only family I have lives down there, so I'm getting away from the city, making a fresh start. And no, I wasn't going to tell you. I didn't need to, we barely know each other. So we had sex...once. That doesn't make us privy to each other's business."_

"**Well um, I don't know what to say... I, uh... have a nice life..."**

Danny stumbled over his words, trying to find something right to say.

"_Oh yeah...it'll be perfect. I'll just set my son's urn on the mantel and say hi to it each morning as I leave to go sunbathing! But you too Danny... you and that control freak of a girlfriend have a nice life as well! Well, until you find someone prettier that is."_

Her whole speech had been drenched in sarcasm and disdain, until her last sentence. That had been pure malice. Danny was fast losing patience.

"**Look Rikki. I'm sorry, about everything. I really am, and maybe a fresh start will do you good... But Lindsay's not a control freak. I love her, and I'll never hurt her again..."**

"_Well isn't that nice for you? Honestly though Dan? I saw the girls you used to go out with, the pretty ones. Why did you lower your standards to HER? I mean, she's so uptight, not a looker AT ALL, and would make up kill her..."_

Danny thought he was going to pop a blood vessel. If he were honest with himself, he could take any insult this woman was to throw at him. He felt that he deserved it. But for Rikki to start on _Lindsay_, who had done nothing wrong? Shouldn't it be the other way around? But no, Lindsay hadn't said a bad word against Rikki... Danny was going to stop this now. He cut off Rikki's ranting immediately.

"**Don't you mean why did I lower my standards to you? Lindsay's amazing; she's smart and funny, witty and cute. She's not uptight, in fact she's pretty easygoing, and she doesn't NEED to plaster make up on her face. She's ****beautiful without it, she doesn't need any help. And you know something, after I told her about that night; she didn't insult either one of us. Instead she blamed herself. She's worth ten of you Rikki, and ..."**

But Danny was talking to a dialling tone. Rikki had hung up on him, adding to his bundle of guilt. Maybe he should call her back, apologise for going over the top. After all, the poor woman was grieving. He'd called her in the forst place to check that she'd be ok, and he'd ended up yelling at her. God, he felt awful.

No, he thought as he looked around the locker room. He put his cell phone back on the bench beside him. She was getting a fresh start, so he should get one too. The woman he should be talking to was Lindsay.

Besides, Rikki had asked for it. If she started making really personal insults about the woman he loved, what did she expect him to do? Obviously he was going to defend her; he just wished he hadn't been quite so harsh.

He stood up abruptly, shaking his head. He had too many regrets, about so much in his life. It was time to let them go, make the fresh start that Rikki was.

There was a newspaper in his locker that he'd bought on his way to work that morning. He'd already circled a couple of the apartments in there. He'd take another look over a cup of coffee from the break room.

If he hung around long enough, he might catch Lindsay when she came back from her scene. He could ask to take her out somewhere; see what she thought about his "fresh start" plan.

As he changed his shirt, Danny thought it might be best if they started from the beginning. Go on a real first date, since theirs had been atop a pool table. He was no good at planning things, perhaps he'd talk to Sheldon, get some tips about a romantic night for her.

Danny smiled properly for the first time in what felt like so long. He closed his locker, put his cell back in his pocket and walked out of the room clutching the newspaper.

Oh yes, he thought, he was going to win her back and make it up to her, or he'd die trying. And he'd make damn sure that no one could ever treat her better. It was all she deserved; she was his world after all; his partner, his princess... his Montana.

**A/N – Erm, slightly cheesy ending I know – sorry! This chap was originally supposed to be all three phone calls, (Danny's, Lindsay's and Mac's) but I seemed to get carried away with the first one! I wanted to get them done properly, and not worry about making the chapter too long, so I decided to split them into 3 separate chaps! Hope you like it!**

**And as always... would much appreciate the reviews! Thank you!!**


	9. Chapter 9, Cannoli

**A/N – Okay, phone conversation number 2 up. Here we go...**

**(For the phone conversationss : Bold is for Lindsay's speech, italics is for Mrs Messer's, and underlined is for Danny's)**

**Chapter Nine - Cannoli**

"**Hi, I'm sorry could you just give me a minute?... Thanks!"**

With excellent balance, she tucked the cell between her cheek and shoulder, and took Hawkes' three small boxes with her free hand.

"Linds, are you sure you can manage those?" Hawkes enquired softly.

Nodding, and mouthing that she'd be fine, she walked quickly onwards down the corridor. Lindsay waited before she was out of earshot before talking into her cell.

"**Hi Mrs Messer, sorry about that. What can I do for you?"**

"_No I'm sorry dear, is this a bad time? I could call you back... You answered really quickly, are you waiting for another call?"_

"**Huh? Oh no, I was just listening to a voicemail from my mom... apparently I'm popular with mothers today." **

She chuckled and waited for a response. She didn't have to wait long, Maria Messer was one to get straight to the point.

"_Oh that's good, I'm feeling kind of lucky to get hold of you lately my dear. I have to wonder why you're avoiding me..."_

Lindsay's stomach twisted in knots.

"**Oh um, sorry I haven't called you back... I... erm... it's just that work's been pretty crazy lately and... erm... when I get chance to return your calls... it's been pretty late... I haven't wanted to erm... disturb you..."**

Lindsay knew that she sucked at lying. Her own mother had left her three voicemails because she hadn't believed her when she'd lied that she was okay. She didn't want her family to know about her problems with Danny yet, if ever. She couldn't guarantee that Danny would keep all his limbs if her brothers were to make an impromptu visit.

Lindsay heard Danny's mother chuckling down the phone.

"_Ahh Lindsay... honey. Do you know you can't lie to save your life?_"

"**I've been told..."**

"_Well sweetie, I'll bet you're wondering why I'm calling?" _

Oh crap, here it comes, Lindsay thought. Pulling the boxes Hawkes had given her against her hip, she shifted her hold on the ever so slightly. Mrs Messer continued without waiting for an answer.

"_Daniel called me last night. He was upset."_

Crap, crap, crap! Lindsay was expecting a typical "mom" sermon about treating Danny right, about forgiving him no matter what, about how much he loved her. In shirt, a sermon she didn't have the energy to listen to. She'd just let Danny's mom prattle on for five minutes, and then make an excuse to hang up.

"**Oh?"**

"_He told me everything Lindsay; about that boy's mother."_

"**He did, huh?"**

"_I think I should tell you that before last night, the last time I saw my boy cry at his grandfather's funeral when he was 14. Even when... after Louie got hurt, he kept everything bottled up. When he lost that co-worker, when Donald got hurt... even when that little boy died. He told me about all of them. Most of the time over cannoli... But no, he never once cried in front of me."_

Lindsay was shocked. In the two years she had known him, she'd never really seen his vulnerable side either. She'd once doubted he had one, and even when she'd found it, she'd doubted that he could cry; preferring his "tough" image.

"**What? Danny? Are you sure?"**

"_Well no I wasn't honey, so I went round to his place. He was a mess Lindsay. I didn't want to leave him like that, but in the end he left to go see you, and tell you, so I had to."_

"**Oh."**

"_I know it was a lot to take in sweetie. Believe me, I know. I've been trying to call Daniel all day. He's been ignoring me too, so I thought I'd call you instead."_

"**Oh."**

Lindsay's pace had slowed right down. She was now strolling along at a leisurely pace, unable to go any faster with her current burdens, both physical and mental.

"_You're real quiet Lindsay. I know you're expecting a lecture about how wonderful my son is, but don't worry, I'm not going to give you one. I'm disappointed in him."_

"**Good."**

Both women were silent for a moment, each trying to figure out the other's thoughts. Finally, it was Maria Messer that broke it, speaking softly.

"_A part of me is proud of him too, though."_

"**What?!" **

Despite the manners she had been brought up with, and the respect she felt for Danny's mother, Lindsay was furious, and the tone of her voice let Mrs Messer know it. She wondered if she'd misheard... surely a mother couldn't be proud of her son _cheating_. And wasn't she a Catholic??

"_Don't get me wrong honey – I'm disgusted at him too. But he was upfront about it..."_

"**Yeah... after he slept with someone else"**

"_Now Lindsay, I understand that you're angry, but I'm now going to tell you something I've never told another soul. My boys don't have a clue about any of this, and their father doesn't know that I found out."_

She paused for a moment, as though checking for eavesdroppers. Even though no one was around, Lindsay cautiously did the same. As angry as she was, she was incredibly curious, not to mention a little apprehensive. As much as she loved Danny, and liked his mother, no doubt a secret from their family would be like a secret from the mafia... She remained silent and waited for the big secret...

"_When the boys were younger, I caught my husband having a affair. Well, I say caught. After finding the typical lipstick on the collar, clothes that smelt of another woman's perfume, yada yada... I followed him. Our religion wouldn't allow for divorce, but I didn't want it anyway. I loved him, and despite it all, I knew he loved me."_

Lindsay nodded, despite Mrs Messer not being able to see her. Her attention fully engaged, she listened intently.

"_It hurt that he'd cheated. It made me question all sorts of things about myself, about him, about us. But ultimately, I loved him; nothing could change that, not even some skinny blonde nitwit like _her. _But what hurt the most was that he never told me._ _He could never be honest. The cheating I forgave long ago, but the deception still gets me sometimes."_

"**Oh my God." **

Lindsay was speechless. This woman had told her a family secret that had been unspoken for the best part of thirty years. She'd not told her husband or children, not even her friends, but she'd told her.

"**Um, Mrs Messer..."**

"_Oh my child, how many times have I asked you to call me Maria?"_

"**Sorry, um... Maria... why are you telling me this?"**

"_To show you that although my son has acted so terribly, there's light at the end of the tunnel. It's possible to forgive, even if you won't forget. If you love him too, which something tells me might be the case, then you can have a future with him. If that's what you want honey... you go for it. Otherwise you'll just be filled with regrets."_

"**Do you ever regret it? Staying with Louie Snr? Or not telling him you know?"**

"_Not for one second sweetie."_

Lindsay smiled. God this woman was good, it was almost as if she was reading Lindsay's thoughts; she did indeed love Danny. But how could his mother know that? Lindsay had never even met her!

"**I um... I have to go. But I'll see you soon?"**

"_Oh Lindsay, how many times have we said that, only to never lay eyes on each other. But yes, you must promise to drop by sometime. Even if you decide that you and Daniel aren't meant to be, I'd still love to meet you hon. I do love our phone conversations, but you need to try my cannoli, and I'd love to see if you're as pretty in real life as you are in photographs..."_

"**Photographs?"**

"_Yes dear, the ones in Daniel's wallet?"_

Lindsay had no idea Danny kept her picture in his wallet. However, at that point she needed to wrap up the conversation fast.

"**Oh right... of course. Erm, I will do Mrs... sorry, Maria. And erm... Thanks for calling me; thank you so much! "**

The sincerity in her voice was evident, despite to rush for the conversation to end.

"_Any time Lindsay. You take care now... Bye!"_

Lindsay used every ounce of her balancing skills to stack Hawkes' boxes on top of her own so she could put her cell phone back in her pocket.

She did so easily, holding them flush against her torso while using her chin to steady them, and then spread the boxes back into both hands before they toppled over.

While she'd been on the phone to Maria Messer, she'd heard the voice of her son, from what seemed like the locker room. She'd have to walk past it anyway, on her way to the evidence locker, but her curiosity overruled her better judgement as she paused for a moment before she reached the door. He appeared to be talking on a cell phone, for she could only hear his end of the conversation...

"You know what Rikki? You're right, I do feel guilty. I feel guilty EVERY FREAKING DAY! I can't sleep, 'coz all I see is Rueben's face. I can't eat 'coz I feel sick about what I've done to Lindsay. I can't do my job 'coz I can't focus on ANYTHING."

He was talking to Rikki. She felt sick. After all he'd said, after he'd pleaded for forgiveness, he was talking to her on the phone. Lindsay had even been convinced by his _mother_ to give him a second chance... she felt like an idiot.

She was about to walk away when she heard:

"Look Rikki. I'm sorry, about everything. I really am, and maybe a fresh start will do you good... But Lindsay's not a control freak. I love her, and I'll never hurt her again..."

Now Lindsay was just plain confused. He was telling Rikki that he loved Lindsay? Not only did that not make sense, it sounded like something off a soap opera!

She was still hurt that he was talking to Rikki though, and started walking again. She was almost out of earshot when she heard Danny's yelling apparently end the conversation.

"Don't you mean why did I lower my standards to you? Lindsay's amazing; she's smart and funny, witty and cute. She's not uptight, in fact she's pretty easygoing, and she doesn't NEED to plaster make up on her face. She's beautiful without it, she doesn't need any help. And you know something, after I told her about that night; she didn't insult either one of us. Instead she blamed herself. She's worth ten of you Rikki, and ..."

He stopped speaking suddenly, and Lindsay found that she didn't much care why Danny was talking to Rikki. It didn't matter by the sound of things, and after hearing that, she'd definately give him chance to explain. She hurried on regardless. He could explain another time, right now she had a job to do; a job that somehow seemed easier than it had ten minutes previously.

Lindsay felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders as she walked into the evidence locker, grinning as she scanned around for Stella. She let herself smile wider as she caught her friend's eye, noticing at once the flushed complexion upon the usually porcelain skin.

"So will Detective Flack not be joining us?"

**A/N – Whether you love it, hate it, or feel kinda indifferent... please please please review – go on, you know you wanna...**

**thanking you muchly! :D**


	10. Chapter 10, Babbling

**A/N okay, the final phone call... Thanks for reading and reviewing so far...**

**A special mention goes to CaRiNesS – who's been amazing and reviewed from the start – not only gives me great comments but is kinda psychic too! **

**To everyone else who has reviewed too – thank you so much! You have no idea how much I appreciate it! I hope you all like the next chap!**

**(Bold signifies Mac's speech, Italics is for Peyton's..)**

**:D**

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Chapter Ten – Babbling

"**Peyton, it's been a while"**

"_I know Mac, how've you been?"_

"**I've been good thank you. What about you? How's London?"**

"_Well, actually...um..."_

Silence enveloped the two, which was strange. Usually they'd make attempts at small talk, even when things were awkward between them, like they'd been in the past.

"**Peyton... are you okay?"**

"_Well, I ..."_

A loud noise suddenly cut her off her already quiet voice.

"**Peyton? Peyton? Are you there? What's with the noise?"**

A few seconds later her soft voice could be head once more.

"_Sorry about that, I'm at the airport... Mac? Are you there?"_

"**I'm here. What... um... why are you at an airport?"**

"_Well that's what I'm trying to tell you, wait... just hang on a moment..."_

That 'moment' turned out to be the longest thirty seconds of Mac's life; it stretched on for an eternity, but when he heard Peyton's voice again, it wasn't accompanied by the loud background noise like before.

"_I'm back..."_

"**Yeah...****Where did you go...?"**

Mac decided to take one more stab at the small talk, trying to ease the tension in their sudden, unexpected conversation.

"_I've just nipped in the ladies loo for a moment... I can't hear myself think out there... you know Mac there were these children who just spilled a drink everywhere, they weren't even... I'm babbling aren't I? _

_T__here was me thinking this would be so awkward I wouldn't be able to talk! Didn't I tell you that the minute I heard your voice I'd be lost? Could you imagine me trying to tell you that letter over the phone? Oh God, Mac about that letter... I'm sorry... I"_

"**Peyton! It's ok, just breathe a second... you sound out of breath. Have you been running or something? Why are you in an airport? Why are you calling me from an airport...?"**

Mac changed his mind, he had too many questions for Peyton to be bothered with idle chit-chat.

"_Um no I haven't... I think I just forgot to take a breather... you know, with the..._

"_**Babbling"**_

They finished together in unison, something that was familiar to both of them, making them both chuckle slightly.

"_I bet you're dying to know why on earth you have some crazy woman calling you from a women's toilet in an airport..."_

"**It's crossed my mind, yes..."**

Mac leaned back in his chair and swung it around 180 degrees, putting his back to the rest of the lab. He was listening intently, making sure he caught every word her soft voice spoke. He missed that voice, he thought painfully.

"_Well, I'm just going to get this out... not beat around the bush or anything. And I don't want you to say anything until I've finished okay...?_

"**Sure Peyton, go ahead..."**

"_Ok... where do I start? Okay, when I sent that letter, it felt like you'd only just left. My family were swarming around me, some had come over from Ireland, some had come from up near Newcastle, even my grandparents from down in Cornwall had come up to see me! It was overwhelming, but so very nice to catch up with them all. Both my brother and sister had had children I hadn't even met, and the nieces I had met were all grown up. I realised how much I missed them all."_

Mac stayed true to his word and didn't interrupt. He didn't even ask her where Newcastle or Cornwall were – having not a clue himself. He patiently listened to her as she continued...

"_You were here while I spoke at that conference – saw how people reacted to my paper. It was the day after you left that they offered me a job. My family were urging me to take it, to stay in London... so I did. I wrote you that letter... and the rest you know..."_

It was true; professors had surrounded Peyton after she'd given her presentation. He stood back, proud of her accomplishments until she beckoned him over with startled eyes. She wasn't used to so much attention, and silently begged Mac to get her away from the old, balding leering professors. They'd laughed later that day about it... she'd called him her knight in shining armour.

"_The job was great, my new colleagues are lovely, the pay's better and I prefer the hours. My family have been amazing too, helping me find a new home. I've actually moved in with my baby sister –Megan, do you remember her? She's the only other one of us left who's unmarried, and it's been... um... interesting to say the least being her flatmate."_

There was a slight pause in which they'd both laughed. Mac did indeed remember Megan, Peyton's youngest sister. They'd both looked so alike. They had the same high cheekbones, flawless porcelain skin and rosy red lips. The only difference was that Megan's hair was short and spiky... and bright pink. She also had numerous piercings, of which Mac was sure there were more that were out of sight. When he'd been introduced, he'd done a double take. He couldn't believe the two were related...

"_But despite how wonderful things seem here. I hate it."_

Mac sat upright in his chair, laughter gone... deadly serious now.

"_When I was in New York, I was homesick a lot, as you know. I missed so much in London... my friends and family, my 'life' I think I called it. I thought I wanted to go back home._

_But the truth is: my home is wherever you are. You _are_ my 'life'. Please stop me if I'm making a fool out of myself, which I probably am. More like definitely I'm guessing. I mean, you're probably seeing someone else, I just...I miss you"_

Mac was shocked to say the least. Her words ran around and around inside his head, blocking out all other noise.

"_I miss you so much it hurts, Mac. I quit my job, I couldn't do it anymore, and I couldn't focus when a patient came in who looked like you. I nearly buggered up his autopsy. I couldn't get you out of my head. Then I saw on the news about that 'Suspect X' case. I was so worried, I actually tried calling you. But it said your number hadn't been recognised..."_

Mac remembered changing his number whilst dealing with the 333 case. He hadn't given his new number to Peyton, never considering that she'd want it.

"_And so here I am Detective Taylor; leaning against a sink in a bathroom at an airport, spilling everything out over the phone and not allowing you to interrupt... which you can do now by the way, I'm finished."_

Mac took a breath before speaking, this was taking a while to sink in...

"**You're not making a fool out of yourself... and I'm not seeing anybody. But erm, how did you get my new number...?"**

"_Oh...I...erm...I've been emailing Sheldon a lot recently, telling him how I've been feeling, he...erm...gave it to me. Was that okay?"_

The disappointment was clear in her voice. An interrogation wasn't the response she was looking for. He mentally reprimanded himself.

"**Of... of course it was okay... I was just curious...so... um you're at the airport? Are you flying back here?"**

"_Do you want me to?"_

The excitement (or nerves, he couldn't tell) was back in her voice. Mac was very rarely lost for words, but at that present moment, he couldn't grasp which words would voice his thoughts.

He turned his chair around again slowly to face the rest of his lab. He scanned it slowly as he spoke.

"**Of course I do... I mean... if you want to. I don't want you to be doing anything on a whim... and I just want you to be happy again."**

"_And what if I told you that being with you is the only way I can be happy Mac?"_

Mac looked at his team members, how happy they seemed. Stella and Flack and gone off together towards the evidence locker. Hawkes and Angell were just walking off too, in what looked like the direction of the break room. Kendal and Adam had moved a couple of inches closer as they processed, their arms just grazing when they moved. Mac hesitated for barely a second before answering.

"**Then I'd ask you when the next flight to New York is."**

Mac smiled as he heard Peyton's laughter down the phone.

"_Oh I was hoping you'd say that!"_

"**You haven't answered my question Dr Driscoll. How soon can you get here?"**

"_Define 'here'"_

Mac was definitely confused.

"**Well, New York, obviously!"**

"_Well, when I arrived at Heathrow, the next flight to New York was in just over half an hour, and the one after that wasn't for a couple of days..."_

"**Well get a ticket...Peyton, get on that plane!"**

"_I did Mac... that was nine hours ago. I'm at JFK airport...Blame Sheldon with his 'grand romantic gestures' he put the idea in my head."_

Peyton was giggling as she spoke, her pure glee obvious to Mac, who had stood up and reached for his jacket.

"**Stay where you are Peyton, I'm going to come and pick you up. Where abouts is that bathroom?"**

"_Oh no Mac don't be silly! I've literally just stepped off the plane, I've still got to go through everything yet... and then I've got to collect my luggage... and it's raining outside so they'll be lots of traffic. By the time you get here, I could probably be halfway to the lab..."_

"**But..."**

"_No Mac, I'll be fine honestly. I might get drenched though, so I'll call you when I'm near the lab and you can have a nice hot cup of tea waiting for me...? Maybe another method of warming me up?"_

Mac smiled, remembering her dislike for coffee. Lindsay liked tea as well though, so he was sure there would be adequate supplies in the break room. He'd go and check just to make sure though... he'd walk all the way to China himself to get her some tea if Peyton wanted... so a quick walk to the grocery store a couple of blocks away would be no problem, regardless of the weather.

"**I think I can manage that... I might even buy you a nice meal from the vending machine. Whatever you want... my treat."**

"_Oooh big spender."_

Peyton was evidently remembering his last birthday too. The memory of that day made him smile as he stood alone in his office, hovering near the door after attempting at leaving.

"_Mac, I have to go collect my luggage now. I'll see you soon, okay? I love you."_

Peyton had disconnected the call quickly, leaving Mac stunned in his office. They had never said that to each other before. He'd never said that to anyone apart from Claire... and maybe his mother.

He'd definitely never said it to Peyton, or she to him. They'd skated round it... she said that she knew her adored her, which he did...

But no, the 'L' word had never been uttered.

Mac crossed the room to sit behind in desk once more... lost in quiet contemplation.

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**A/N... Don't worry, I'm not leaving it there :D But if you review, you might get the next instalment that little bit quicker... please?**

**LOL – hope you liked it!**


	11. Chapter 11, Nerves

**A/N – as if I'd leave it there! I might live and breathe reviews, but a healthy dose of fluff keeps me going too!**

**I was going to put this at the end of the previous chapter... but it just seemed to fit better alone. What do you guys think? **

**Same as before: bold Mac's speech, italics Peyton's**

**So, here goes...**

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**Chapter 11 ****- Nerves**

Mac was dialling before he could stop to think. The phone was obviously still in her hand, as she answered after the first ring.

"_Mac? What's wrong? Oh my god! Have you changed your mind about us? I'm sorry I said... I just...Are you..."_

"**Peyton!"**

He cut off her stammering before he lost his nerve. Detective Mac Taylor dealt with so much in his profession, life and death situations were all in a day's work. And it was a rare occurrence that he'd find himself nervous – he could usually control his emotions easily.

Right now, that wasn't the case. His palms were sweaty, his heart was thumping in his chest; and his stomach had found a way to twist around like an acrobat.

He told himself to just get on with it. So he did, saying bluntly:

"**You hung up on me"**

"_I... no I didn't... I..."_

"**Peyton, I don't mind, it's just that next time; give me chance to say what I want to say too."**

"_Erm... okay..." _She spoke slowly, quite clearly perplexed. _"What did you want to say Mac?"_

"**I love you too."**

Mac hung up quickly, his nerves gone completely. He looked around his office and then back at his cell phone. Then he looked out of the window at the terrible weather outside... rain beating down on the New York skyline, which was silhouetted against inky sky.

It was amazing how much a phone call or two could brighten your evening, Mac thought with a smile.

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**A/N – Review please... would you? Please? For me? **

**Lolz, next chapter we go back to the case... and on with the plot! WAYHEY!**


	12. Chapter 12, Quid pro quo

**A/N – To all of you who reviewed – thanks & I love you. Simple as!**

**Laurzz – I was going to have Peyton come to the crime lab, but ask and yay shall receive... I've rejiggyed the plot slightly so you can have an airport scene. Should be around chap 14... :D I'll get it up ASAP!**

**Karen & Marla D – Your reviews were anonymous so I couldn't personally reply, so I'm just going to say here – thank you for reviewing!**

**Also thanks go to: FeatherGirl926, Kat Priestly, CaRiNeSs, BrenShorter, pinkyzg, kabwng, ssbailey, and KickassScot! **

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**Chapter twelve- Quid pro quo**

"So will Detective Flack not be joining us?"

Stella was about to brush off Lindsay's comment when she saw the look on the young CSI's face. It was the first time she actually looked happy all day, so she decided to roll with it, even if it meant Stella being completely 100 percent embarrassed.

"Err, no, he had to go back to the precinct. He told me to call him if we have something...well you know, told _us_ to erm...call... ahh... you look pleased with something."

"Don't change the subject Stell. What's going on with you two?"

"Nothing! What are you talking about?"

"You know perfectly well what I'm talking about! You and Flack... spill"

"Well two can play at that game Linds, who was on the phone? Is that why you look so happy? And... Where did those other boxes come from?"

Stella's inner CSI shone through for a moment after spotting Lindsay's extra packages, successfully sidetracking Lindsay for a moment, much to her relief.

"Oh, Hawkes asked me to bring them down here. He err... looked kinda busy with Angell if you know what I mean."

"Really? Hawkes and Angell? Wow I never saw that coming!"

"Well you would have seen for yourself, had you not been so engrossed with your conversation with Flack."

"Jeez, you're like a pit-bull with a steak aren't you?"

"Well Stella, look at it this way. We've gotten really close in the past couple of years right? We've been to the movies, shared pizza, bottles of wine, ice cream, been to bars... that time we went to one and it actually turned out to be a gay bar... remember?"

"How could I forget...? I still can't believe that guy asked how I hid my Adam's apple!"

Both women paused for a moment to chuckle quietly as they strolled down memory lane.

"Take it as a compliment Stell... he obviously thought you were very attractive..."

"Yeah... an attractive guy! Mind you, at least I didn't have other women hitting on me..."

"Oh that's just below the belt! You know how much that freaked me out!"

"Well they obviously thought you were very attractive Linds."

The two women grinned at each other as Stella repeated Lindsay's words back at her.

"Anyway Stella, my point is, we hang out quite a lot when we have the time. But all we do is talk about cases, or shoes, or shopping... or we just sit and gossip."

"Well Linds, we don't get chance to be girly girls any other time... I mean, if we stood in the break room discussing the latest from Jimmy Choo, we'd never get any respect around here!"

"No, no! That's not what I mean! I'm just saying, you're my best friend Stell, but we never really talk about anything _real"_

Stella nodded slowly, agreeing with her friend. She had a point; they'd both had so many traumatic events in their past, that they tended to just stick with the present. Neither woman ever pried into each other's lives before they met, and often when they socialised outside of work, they were either too tired from a long shift, or too drunk from coping with a long shift.

"Yeah I get your point Linds... But I still think this is just a rouse to get me to tell you about me and Flack."

"So there is a 'you and Flack'?"

Stella sighed and put down the evidence she was cataloguing.

"Alright, I'll spill if you will – quid pro quo..."

"You have yourself a deal Detective... so... you and Flack?"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Lindsay had started questioning Stella, she'd fully expected to have her queries avoided, and then be sent to process evidence while Stella attempted the mammoth task of logging it in herself. As it was, Stella had offered her the quid pro quo deal.

Lindsay wasn't sure how she felt about that, she didn't want to tell Stella anything about her conversation with Danny's mother, or that she'd listened in on Danny's conversation with Rikki. It would be okay though, she told herself. Maybe she could keep the Flack subject up long enough to avoid any mentions of Danny, or just excuse _herself_ by processing evidence.

That idea was promptly shot down when Stella paged Adam to come and collect their most intriguing evidence – the cracked conical flasks. Adam would be indentifying the blue liquid etc, and Lindsay wasn't sure that anything else would be worth getting her out of a chat with her friend.

So while Stella paged Adam and started logging in the footprints and broken glass, Lindsay was logging in Hawkes' evidence. Both women checked the evidence locker carefully for other people before embarking on their conversation...

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"You have yourself a deal Detective... so... you and Flack?"

"What about 'me and Flack'?"

"Stellaaaa! Are we seriously doing this again? You just made a deal! You can't just welch on a..."

Stella interrupted Lindsay's child like whining, saying:

"No I know! I'm just saying, what about 'me and Flack' do you wanna know?"

"Ohh I see! Well, has anything happened yet?"

"NO! Oh come Lindsay, as if!"

"As if what? Why is the idea so unbelievable? You like him, he likes you..."

"Yeah ok, I like him. A little. A crush, you could say... but there's just too many obstacles Linds..."

Lindsay looked up from the gun she was logging in.

"Stella? Who are you trying to kid? A crush? Please, you have a crush on Johnny Depp! This is soooo much different!" And what obstacles?"

"Okay, so what if it's more than a little crush? And...well, we work together for starters... I'm so much older than him... I'm not certain he likes me back..."

Lindsay had listened to Stella's reasoning carefully. She decided to skim over the co-workers subject, feeling like she was in no position to comment on office romances, having the love life she did. She accepted the point about the age gap, even though she didn't personally think it was that big. But the final problem that Stella offered was met with a fierce response.

"Doesn't like you back? My God Stella! You're a CSI, and you can't see what's right in front of you! Have you not noticed how he looks at you? How he speaks to you? How he'll ignore a whole room of people to say two words to you?"

"He's a flirt Lindsay; he's like that with everybody..."

Stella was about to mention his close friendship with Detective Angell, when she stopped herself. She was jealous to say in the least; she'd give a lot to spend as much time with Flack as Jessica did. There had been a few rumours about the two homicide detectives, and although she tried to be indifferent to them, Stella couldn't help but feel green with envy sometimes. She found it embarrassing though, so she kept that information to herself.

"He's not like that with me Stell..."

"Yeah, well you're dating his best friend...or was...or...God I'm sorry Linds...I"

Stella had many talents, some obvious, some hidden; she was a good CSI, was excellent at interrogating subjects. She could dance pretty well, having taken lessons when she was younger. She even had qualifications as a hair stylist, having worked in a salon for four years during high school and college.

But the thing that Stella thought she was best at: demonstrating how she could get her foot right in her mouth!

"Don't be sorry Stell; the jackass was going to come up at some point in this conversation."

Lindsay ducked her head down while trying to keep her face neutral. One thing she did miss about her longer hair was that it covered her face better when she'd needed. She couldn't lie to save her life, and admitting that she'd practically forgiven Danny to Stella might class as suicide.

"So he's now a jackass? Well this morning he was 'grieving'." Stella looked inquiringly at Lindsay, trying to read her like she would a suspect. The younger detective looked up, unable to keep quiet any longer.

"Okay, he's not a jackass, well he is. I mean, he's always been a jackass... but I think we're going to be all right Stella."

"You mean he's forgiven?"

"I don't know... I really need to speak to him. I mean, I'm not saying I'll just have him straight back or anything... but yeah, I think we're going to be ok..."

"Good for you Linds!"

"Really? No, 'be an independent woman' speech?"

"Nope, you've been really distracted today... really miserable. And whatever made you decide that you and Danny had a future... it's made you seem happy again. I know I kinda ranted in the car this morning, and I'm sorry. I just wanted you be be ok. So sweetie, if you're happy, I'm happy."

"Oh I'm very happy Stella. If Danny and I get back on track... we can double date with you and Flack!"

Stella groaned, obviously mistaken that her part of the conversation was over.

"Lindsay! Haven't we done me?"

"Well, I spilled in the car this morning... then you _barely_ gave me anything... then we got back onto me... so now it's your turn again. What are you going to do about Flack? Who _does _like you, before you say anything!"

"You know, I don't recall things ever being this bad in high school!"

Lindsay responded silently, just glaring at her friend.

"Ok Lindsay. I'm going to level with you. After Frankie, and then Drew... I stopped looking for guys... I just... I couldn't take any more psychos!"

She chuckled, trying to give the tense conversation a more light hearted feel.

"And every time I went through some crap... Flack was there. After Frankie, he was there for me in the hospital. After we found out who Drew was, he showed up at my apartment with red wine and you know those little pastry things I like?"

Lindsay smiled and nodded, not missing the light that shone in Stella's eyes as she talked about Don Flack. Gazing at nothing in particular, Stella looked as though she was miles away as she continued.

"When my apartment burned down, I heard him interrogating a suspect. I know he was only doing his job, but the words he used Linds, he sounded like he was in there for _me_. And I know it sounds stupid, but it just made me feel so..."

Stella left her sentence hanging as she returned her focus to Lindsay, and then the evidence on the work surface before them.

"You're right...I do like him. Quite a bit. And once I figure out if it's mutual... I mean, the guy's so hard to read! If he'd just make an obvious gesture or... ask me out for coffee sometime...anything!

Anyway, if it is mutual, we'll go from there I guess... and if it's not... then you and I are headed back to that bar missy! I mean, we wouldn't have to buy a drink all night!"

Both women laughed for a moment, realising the conclusion to their conversation. Lindsay was quiet; processing the information she'd received, while Stella got straight back to business:

"Hey, you look about done there Lindsay. I am too... where the hell is Adam...i paged him at like 8.10... it's now almost nine o'clock!"

"Probably organising his date with Kendal." Lindsay murmered softly. Seeing her friend's shocked expression, she continued.

"Well Ms Bonasera, seeing as we've both literally spilt our hearts out to each other today, I'm sure I can tell you a little snippet of information I heard as we walked past trace earlier..."

At that point, Lindsay stopped short, as she looked up and saw Adam coming in through the door. He was bright red, giving Lindsay the assumption that he'd heard her about to discuss his date with Kendal. She felt awful.

Lindsay let Stella give him the evidence, explaining what to do with it etc. The strange thing was, that it was _Stella_ he couldn't look in the eye. Lindsay he seemed fine with, even nodding her a goodbye as he left. But he was avoiding looking at Stella as much as possible, something that didn't go unnoticed by Stella either.

Lindsay shook her head, he must have confused their voices, thinking that it was Stella telling Lindsay about his love life. Either way, the guilty knot in Lindsay's stomach made Lindsay resolve to keep the gossip for those girly nights in. After Adam left, she didn't continue her story, but carried on working steadily.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

As he left the evidence locker, Adam mentally kicked himself. It wasn't like he was an eavesdropper or anything. He didn't mean to listen to other people's business.

He was curious as to why Lindsay looked so shifty – perhaps she knew he'd overheard. He was just grateful that Stella hadn't realised he'd heard her little speech about Detective Flack.

But after hearing the speech Flack had made about Stella earlier, Adam thought to himself that things were certainly going to get interesting in the lab...

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**A/B – OOOH – things are certainly going to get **_**very **_**interesting LOL. Flack's speech will be next chap – don't worry, you'll get to read it!**

**You'll get to read it even quicker if you review :D please? Pretty please?? xxx**


	13. Chapter 13, Lucky

**A/N – Hey there! Thanks for reviewing – every one of you! It really means a lot. Hope you like my next chap:**

* * *

**Chapter 13 – Lucky**

Adam looked at his watch; it read 8.06.

"_That's 23 hours and 54 minutes until my date with Kendal!" He thought excitedly._

The mere thought of the next night's activities filled him with nerves, excitement and sheer dread all at once. He was going to ask Danny for advice about where to take her. Adam had always looked up him, and Danny never seemed short of a date. A few months ago, there had been rumours about Danny and Lindsay getting something going (after nearly two years of flirting), which made Danny even more impressive in Adam's eyes: Lindsay was hot!

But lately, both of them had seemed to lose their spark, looking tired and as though they both had a lot on their minds. Adam decided that perhaps Danny wasn't the best to go to for relationship advice at the moment... and Hawkes had a reputation for being romantic... and he was a nice guy, wouldn't make fun of Adam like Danny might...

By 8.09, Adam had almost planned how he was going to approach Hawkes, and was quietly chatting to Kendal about the due release date for a new games console when Adam's beeper went off. It sang a bittersweet symphony – he hadn't wanted a beeper, finding them too corporate and oppressive. However, Mac had thought it was a good idea for the more senior lab techs to be more accessible. He hadn't dared to disagree with Mac, so he accepted the beeper grudgingly. It interrupted him at the most annoying times, but in the plus side, it made him look important. And it was good for his ego, letting everyone (or more specifically Kendal) know that Mac considered him a _senior_ lab tech.

Adam was so deep in his thoughts, mentally debating the pros and cons of the device, that it was 8.10 before Kendal gently nudged him and pointed at his beeper.

"Oh yeah... sorry... wasn't concentrating."

He read it quickly.

"It's Stella, she wants me to go get some evidence and start processing. I'll be back in a few minutes..."

Adam had already started to walk out of the room before he came back to quickly and spontaneously give Kendal a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'll see you later..."

Kendal was too shocked to respond... she'd never consider that Adam would have the guts to kiss her right here in the middle of the lab... even if it was only on the cheek. Watching him leave, she silently lifted a hand to touch the skin where he'd kissed her. It felt as if it was on fire. And all Kendal could think about was that she was lucky to have him.

She settled back into her work, and with no companion to idly chat to, she resumed with the planning of the next night's outfit...

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Danny had left the locker room, he had his nose so buried in the apartment listings in his newspaper, that he barely registered Don Flack calling his name. He pulled out of his reverie and turned in time to see the detective walking briskly towards him, coming in the direction of the men's room.

"God Messer, you need a hearing aid now? It would really complete the look with those specs of yours."

"Pretty harsh for a guy with his fly undone."

Flack hastily checked his fully done up pants and looked up again, expecting to see Danny grinning at him. In reality, however, Danny had started glancing at his newspaper once more.

"What, you not gonna say 'made you look'? And how old are ya Dan?"

"Hey, the classics never get old..."

"Yeah yeah... so what's up with you?"

Danny raised one eyebrow slightly.

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well you haven't been the cheeriest of people lately, and now you look like you're miles away..."

Flack continued when he didn't get a response, using the best technique he knew.

"Lindsay looked pretty distracted this morning too."

"What? Lindsay? You're on a case with her? How did she look? Was she ok?"

"Ahh... so it is Lindsay that's on your mind..."

"Don't start Flack... it's one long story."

"Yeah well I got plenty of time... only got paperwork to keep me company... wanna grab a beer? Talk about it? Your shift's over right?"

"Yeah, but I thought I'd stick around to... ahh... I was just headed to the... err... break room."

"Sounds good, I'll join you."

Flack had come to the conclusion that Danny couldn't be left to his own devices much longer. He'd backed off after Rueben was killed, and then when his mother had stolen Danny's gun. He knew Danny would only tell him that he was dealing with things on his own. But now things had changed, enough time had passed, and Danny still wasn't opening up.

In the years they'd worked together, Don and Danny had shared more beers than Flack could care to count. They'd been to games; baseball, basketball, hockey... all sorts. They'd played pool, shared pizza, picked up girls in bars... Don knew how to get Danny to open up. He had to go first.

"You and Lindsay... is it hard working together?"

"Huh?" Danny wasn't expecting such a random question from his friend. He glanced around the empty hall. They still hadn't moved an inch from when they'd first spoken.

"Well... you're dating Lindsay... and you have to work together... is it hard?"

Danny dodged the question as best he could, not sure how to answer, and then it hit him.

"Why ya wanna know Don... who do you wanna...? Oh my God... No way! You gonna ask out..."

Danny never got the chance to finish his sentence, stopping short as two females walked around the corner, coming towards them. They were from admin and personnel: in short, the gossip factory of the whole building. Danny couldn't wait until they'd gone to resume their conversation; he pushed Flack back inside the men's room.

"Messer, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Well, those girls out there... they're gossips... will spread rumours about..."

"Oh yeah, and you shoving me into a bathroom _sure_ won't spark any rumours!"

Both men paused for a second to laugh at the strange turn of events.

"Don't change the subject Don... so you're asking out Angell?"

"WHAT? Me and Angell? Are you kidding me?"

"Huh? What? But you... you guys... you're always so... and she's... and you... wait! If you weren't talking about Angell..."

"No Danny, you wait, why did you think I meant Angell?"

"Well you know... it's obvious how much she likes you... and I always thought that 'coz you kinda flirted back... maybe you liked her too. But you never did anything... and I thought that was 'coz you worked together... but then...OH MY GOD."

The penny in Danny's head dropped.

"It's Stella isn't it? You're gonna ask out Stella!"

"Danny, jeez... would you keep your voice down?"

"So it is?"

"Well... yeah. I was thinking about it... but I don't know..."

"You should man... you'd be great..."

"Yeah...but I was wondering... I mean... it would be great if Linds could maybe test the water for me... find out if things are mutual? I don't wanna make an ass of myself. Could you ask her?"

Flack had no intention of getting Lindsay's help; he didn't want or need it. But the manipulative conversational skills he used so often on suspects came in so handy...

"Well actually Flack... I don't think I could... I mean... Lindsay and I aren't on the best terms at the minute..."

"Oh... really? How come? What's happened?"

In his head, Flack did a small victory dance. He couldn't believe how predictable his friend was... He was like a dog really... scratch his belly and that was it...

Danny stared at his feet, unable to look Don in the eye. When he spoke, he didn't sugar coat anything, just spilled everything right out.

"I slept with Rikki Sandoval... and I told Lindsay, last night."

Flack's little victory dance halted abruptly. Maybe his friend wasn't so predictable after all...

"You... you... what?"

"I know... you don't need to tell me, man. I screwed up. Big time. I just... you wouldn't understand..."

"You slept with her 'coz you'd been pushing everyone away, you were feeling, lonely... guilty, and you wanted the pain to stop. Danny, I do understand. We all do, ya just gotta let us in and give us a chance..."

Danny was dumbfounded. He thought Lindsay's reaction had been surprising, but then he'd put it down to her sweet natured personality. From Flack, he was expecting nothing more than verbal abuse, insults, and maybe a hit around the head. He definitely hadn't expected his friend to get Danny's thoughts _spot on_. Maybe Don was right, he should start letting people back in.

"But most importantly Danny, how did Linds take it?"

"Well... she err... really well actually. Better than I thought things would go down..."

"So you guys are ok? You're still..."

Don left his sentence hanging, leaving Danny to answer.

"Well, she things _were _over. But then she said for now. For now..."

"WOW. Jeez Messer, you sure got lucky, not every woman would be so nice about that kinda thing..."

"I know... which is why I'm gonna stop at nothing to get her back Flack..."

Danny exhaled slowly and gave his friend a small smile. He then gestured at the newspaper still in his hand.

"I'm moving too, getting a new place... fresh start, ya know?"

"Yeah. Well, I'm just glad you're starting to get back on track Dan... I won't feel so bad beating your sorry ass at handball...Gotta ask though... What's your plan on getting Lindsay back? I mean, I don't think flowers or a singing love bug is gonna get you anywhere here..."

"Which is why I'm gonna talk to the Doc... he's that sensitive, romantic type... girls dig that kinda stuff... gonna ask him what he thinks... I'm going to the break room now, he'll probably be there. Why don't you ask him how to woo a certain Ms Bonasera...?"

"Dude... below the belt okay?"

"I'm being serious... "

"I don't want some cliché little date thing. I wanna do this properly. She's so special Danny, she deserves the best – probably more than I can give her... But I mean, she's so smart, with an amazing sense of humour... She's got that awesome personality... and so beautiful too... she's... Well, you could say she's my perfect woman..."

Flack stopped his speech suddenly. He hadn't planned on sharing his feeling with Danny; he'd only mentioned Stella to get Danny talking.

"Okay okay, but if the Doc works his magic and I get Montana back... and you and Stella get something going...There aint no way in hell we're double dating..."

"Read my mind... now whaddya say we get outta the men's room before we're the subject of water cooler gossip eh?"

"Yeah... break room?"

Danny smiled widely while Flack nodded. Don could at least hear what Hawkes had to say... He'd try anything if it meant Stella would give him a chance...

The two men left the bathroom, now discussing a recent Giants game.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

When Adam had clumsily kissed Kendal on the cheek, it had been completely on the spur of the moment. Of course, it had made him blush furiously.

He didn't want to enter the evidence locker resembling a tomato, so he'd stopped off at the men's room for a second to regain his composure.

He'd heard someone about to enter the bathroom, and so had dived into the nearest stall, thus saving him from explaining the cause of his blushing.

They'd left, but just as Adam was about to exit the toilet stall, two more people had entered and Adam had recognised both voices immediately.

"_Messer, what the hell do you think you're doing?"_

"_Well, those girls out there... they're gossips... will spread rumours about..."_

Adam's face, by this point, had resumed its usual colour, and he was about to leave when he heard:

"_Don't change the subject Don... so you're asking out Angell?"_

Adam really didn't want to eavesdrop. He didn't have any desire to listen into people's private conversations, but if he left now, things would be more than awkward. And so he'd stayed put, deciding that he'd leave after the other two did.

As things transpired, they'd both revealed _a lot_ about themselves, and Adam was feeling increasingly guilty about overhearing the conversation.

He couldn't believe Danny had cheated... but it looked like things might right themselves. Adam didn't really know Det. Flack that well, but he did know Stella. It was about time she had someone special... and after hearing the detective speak about her, it was obvious he cared deeply for her. He may not have _meant_ to listen, but now he had, Adam was curious... he wondered if Stella felt the same... wondered if either would ever do anything about it.

If Adam had learnt one thing in the past half hour, it was that, when it came to relationships, nothing ventured was nothing gained. He still couldn't believe he had a date with Kendal!

After the teo men had finally left, Adam had waited for around five minutes to ensure they'd really gone. Then he'd hurried out of the bathroom as quick as he could and scuttled towards the evidence locker.

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**A/N – Just so you note – this chap takes place before the last one, just to make things clear!**

**To those of you still reading – thanks for sticking with me this far! I hope you'll keep reading long enough to get to the good stuff! (Things will crack off **_**properly**_** in chap 15)**


	14. Chapter 14, Home

**A/N – Thanks so much for your reviews – MWAH to every single one of you!**

**Laurzz – As requested, an airport scene. This is just for you...**

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**Chapter 14 - Home**

Mac Taylor sat silently in his office. He was behind his desk, hands folded, staring at the cell phone which lay on the desk in front of him. To say he'd shocked himself would be putting things lightly.

After he'd lost Claire, he'd never imagined telling another soul he loved them. Even when Peyton had first come into his life, he'd been hesitant, sometimes not saying or doing the things he should have.

Then she'd gone and he didn't have to worry about what he did or didn't do with her – it simply didn't matter anymore.

Mac still couldn't believe she'd come back to him. Since he'd received her letter, there'd been times when he contemplated just calling her and begging her to come back. He'd always stopped himself though, he just wanted her to be happy, and if she was happy in London, then he'd live with it.

But she hadn't been happy in London. She came back to him, and she was at the airport right at that moment, she'd be at the lab possibly within the hour.

Suddenly, Mac realised an hour was far too long. As much as Peyton wanted a cup of tea waiting for her, he had a sneaky suspicion she wouldn't be completely adverse to a stop off at Starbucks if he went to meet her anyway.

Seconds later, Mac had made up his mind. It had been far too long since he'd seen her; one more hour would kill him.

He picked up the cell phone, thrusting it into his pocket as he stood up. Mac grabbed his jacket from the coat stand as he made his way out of his office, walking briskly through the lab towards the elevators.

As Mac walked past the break room, he spotted Hawkes in there with Detective Angell. They were chatting, completely engrossed with each other, and Mac could see Don and Danny outside the opposite wall, observing the two through the glass walls.

Mac retraced his last couple of steps until he was in the doorway and then cleared his throat to get Hawkes' attention. Normally he'd keep his private life private, and he'd never speak about his relationships in front of people he barely knew, such as Jessica Angell. But at that present moment, Mac Taylor wouldn't mind standing upon the nearest rooftop and proclaiming his love for the entire world to hear.

Hawkes looked up at him and smiled. He was about to turn back to Angell when a penny must have dropped in his head. His smile broadened as he turned fully towards Mac, who wore a sombre expression upon his face.

"_Hi_ Mac. You okay?"

"Yeah... better than okay... I just spoke to Peyton actually..."

Hawkes acted surprised, and was about to interrupt before Mac cut him off.

"She's already at the airport, and she already told me it was all your idea."

Hawkes didn't know what to say. He thought Mac would be pleased to have Peyton back, but the look on his face told otherwise. Sheldon's smile faltered slightly.

"Erm... yeah it kinda was... I mean I didn't... I'm sorry... I"

Mac cut him off once more.

"I've got two words to say to you Sheldon."

_Oh god, please say they're not 'You're fired'_ Hawkes thought quickly.

"Thank you"

"Huh?" Hawkes looked quite surprised, and Mac's expression cracked, revealing the grin he'd been holding back.

"I said: thank you. And I think I owe you a beer..."

Mac, anxious to hurry on to the airport, just let his smile widen. He nodded to a chuckling Hawkes and a confused Angell, and hurried on towards the elevators.

Jessica was indeed confused. After Mac had gone, she looked questionably at Hawkes, who quickly explained the idea he had proposed to Peyton a couple of weeks previously.

Such a grand, romantic gesture shocked Jess. The most a guy had ever pushed the boat out for her had been a red rose on St Valentine's Day. And that had been from a street vendor. And then he'd expected sex, to which Jess's response had been a slammed door in his face.

If she were honest, she'd never craved romance in her life, because she'd simply never had it in the first place, but listening to Sheldon, she realised what the man could bring to her life. If they dated, she could imagine him buying her flowers and chocolates, but also doing the simple things like writing affectionate messages on post it notes, like she'd seen in movies.

Hawkes' story revealed her inner romantic, and she found herself becoming increasingly attracted to him; and she hadn't even _thought_ about Flack since they'd sat down in the break room.

She looked up in time to see Danny and Don walk through the door. She waited for the familiar fluttering of butterflies in her stomach, which always arose when Don Flack came in close proximity. They didn't make an appearance.

Of course she still cared for Flack; he was one of her best friends. But one thing was for sure: she was getting over him.

* * *

Danny and Don both felt better for relieving their emotional burdens onto each other. They felt even better after discussing the recent Giants game with one another. It gave them a sense of normality that neither had felt in recent weeks. It was nice to be able to quarrel over who the best player was, even though it was a topic they'd both been over countless times before.

When they reached the break room, they'd both stopped, despite the door being on the opposite wall. They both just stood a while, looking through the glass wall at Hawkes and Angell, who had their backs to the two men.

As they watched, Mac came in and spoke briefly to Hawkes; having a short conversation that neither Don nor Danny could hear.

After Mac had left again, Hawkes turned back to Jess and Flack spoke up.

"How the hell does he do it?"

"Do what, Flack?"

"Well look at him. I happen to know that Jess is real picky about who she dates. He's not her type at all, but he can obviously turn on the charm... I mean, look at them... I guess... Well, I guess I'm just kinda jealous..."

Danny snorted. "Okay. But I thought you were interested in Stella, not Angell... don't confuse me..."

Flack cut Danny off: "I don't like Angell, that's not why I'm jeal... oh just forget it!"

Don started to walk away, before Danny grabbed his arm, stopping him.

"Flack, just chill man, I was kidding! I know what you mean... you like Stella... but you don't know what to do about it... whereas Hawkes always seems to know what to do about girls... am I warm yet?"

"Disturbingly so."

"Well then you got two choices Don. You either swallow your damned pride and go and talk to the guy..."

"Or..."

"Or you attempt to 'woo' Stell on your own and fuck it up all by yourself..."

Both men chuckled and lapsed into an easy silence, which was eventually broken by Flack.

"I mean, normally I'm fine with girls, Dan. I never need any tips from anyone. But this is Stella... I wanna..."

"Do things right?" Danny offered

"Exactly"

"Well, I can admit to being a complete screw up in the field of relationships. If I want another chance with Montana, I gotta have something pretty big. While you stand there and contemplate letting your ego take a blow, I need you to distract Angell."

"Huh? What...why?"

"Well I'm not exactly proud of going to another guy to give me romance tips... so I'd rather she wasn't a witness to it. Couldn't you go buy her a coffee or something?"

Flack pulled a face, but easily relented. He could do with talking to her anyway... she hadn't answered when he'd called her back earlier.

A few moments later, the two men had walked around the perimeter of the room until they'd come to the doorway. They'd greeted the two occupants of the room, and Danny asked Hawkes if he could spare a few minutes.

Hawkes had nodded immediately, but then stole a short sideways glance at Angell. At that point, Flack had promptly offered to buy her coffee, so they could continue their earlier phone conversation which had been interrupted when he'd spilled his drink.

Angell had been enjoying herself with Sheldon, and was about to decline when she'd caught the warning look in Flack's eyes. With that, all four looked shiftily at each other in silence.

After a few moments, Angell patted Hawkes' knee and stood up. She promised to bring him back a pretzel, something they'd been talking about only minutes earlier. Jess and Flack quickly left the break room and headed for the elevators.

When out of earshot, she rounded on him, wanting to know why Danny hadn't wanted to talk to Hawkes in private. As the doors closed, they'd fallen into easy banter. Unlike recent weeks, the jibes and jokes came easily to Jess too, something she noticed, making her smile.

Meanwhile, Danny was listening to Hawkes intently, pulling out his notebook and taking rapid notes as Sheldon talked fast; describing everything Danny wanted to know.

* * *

When Mac had left the lab, he'd gotten in a cab. For mere seconds in the elevator, he'd considered heading to the parking lot and taking his own car, something quickly dismissed. If the traffic was _that_ bad he wanted to be able to just jump out and take the subway.

The traffic _had_ been bad, but not really much worse than usual New York City congestion. Mac hadn't needed to get out, but the entire half hour journey had been torture. He'd sat restlessly, bouncing his knee, tapping his fingers and fidgeting in general.

When he'd finally reached the airport, after what had felt like a week in the stuffy cab, he'd literally thrown some cash at the driver and bolted out of the cab as fast as he could.

The speed in which he'd exited the vehicle disappeared as soon as he'd stepped in the main entrance of JFK airport. The place was huge; swarming with people; he'd never find her here.

xXxXx

Peyton had been waiting at the luggage carousel for far too long. She was impatient to see Mac, all the way through her flight she'd wanted nothing more than to call him, just to hear his voice.

When she had heard his voice, she'd felt her knees disintegrate underneath her; her head filled with the sound of a hundred fireworks.

Then he'd told her loved her. She'd dearly loved to call him back, as he had done to her, but Peyton found she couldn't press redial. Her hands had gripped the edge of the sink she was leaning against, and she had a hard time prying them off.

When she'd managed that, Peyton couldn't trust her voice to be audible, so she'd stowed her mobile back in her pocket and proceeded towards baggage claim. She wanted to get out of this airport as quickly as possible.

xXxXx

Mac began walking against the throngs of people heading in the opposite direction. He was staring at the departure board, when he realised that wouldn't tell him where Peyton was.

It took him a few more minutes to register where she might be – getting her luggage.

He took him mere seconds after that to begin jogging in the right direction.

He'd spoken to three different employees about her possible whereabouts; they sent him from one part of the huge airport to another. He'd almost given up, tired from literally running around the airport. Mac found himself right back where he'd started: at the entrance. Doubting whether Peyton would even hear her phone over the hustle and bustle of the airport, he'd pulled out his own cell anyway and dialled her number – his last hope of finding her in this place.

xXxXx

Peyton had finally got all her luggage. She'd almost picked up someone else's bags by mistake; she was that distracted. This had earned her many filthy looks from fellow passengers from her plane. She'd gotten her bags and made a hasty retreat.

She'd stacked her bags on top of one another, not bothering to get a trolley to help her. Even if by some miracle she did manage to find one, it'd only slow her down anyway, she was getting _out_ of this airport soon if it killed her.

Her luggage all balanced, she set off at a fast pace, Mac's face imprinted on her mind's eye.

xXxXx

Mac had been dialling Peyton's number when he'd bumped straight into an airport security guard. He'd mumbled an apology and was about to resume his hurried pace towards a seating area when the guard had stopped him in his tracks. He'd spotted Mac's badge on his belt, clearly worried that Mac was chasing a criminal through his airport.

Mac had already explained his presence to three other security guards, and so knew exactly which words would ensure a quick get-away. He spoke them quickly and excused himself, dialling Peyton's number once more.

xXxXx

Peyton had finally done it. She'd been through all the security checks, had got her luggage, had made it clear across the airport. She was travelling down the escalator into the main foyer, staring at the entrance doors. In just seconds, she'd be through those doors, then into a cab, then at the New York crime lab and then...

And then she would see Mac...

She felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She felt her stomach do a back flip when she saw the caller ID, and she looked up for a moment before she answered it, pure joy etched into her face.

When she looked up, her eyes locked onto something in the distance, and she rejected the call. Peyton picked up her bags once more as she reached the bottom of the escalator, and headed towards the door.

xXxXx

Mac hadn't expected any different. He'd reached her answer phone. It still bothered him though. It seemed like days had elapsed since Peyton had first called him. Long, boring days that were filled with loneliness and misery.

Mac was leaning sideways against a partition, picturing the curves of Peyton's face. The airport dissolved around him, time stood still; Mac could see only the typical 'English Rose' beauty conveyed in every pore of Peyton's face.

A gentle tap on the shoulder startled Mac, bringing him back to reality.

xXxXx

She's seen him. True, it had only been the back of him, but she'd know that back anywhere. Mac Taylor had come all the way to the airport to pick her up. Just when Peyton thought she couldn't love him anymore, he'd proven her wrong.

She'd rejected his call, fully intending to surprise him, as he'd surprised her. Her mind was racing furiously, determined to fathom some witty comment from the depths of her brain. She couldn't think of anything remotely funny, cute, sexy or even interesting to greet him with. Her mind had failed her. She'd just have to tap him on the shoulder and yell hello...

xXxXx

Mac turned, hoping (and expecting) to see Peyton behind him. Tapping him on the shoulder and just _being there_ was such a 'Peyton' thing to do...

But it wasn't her. A short, dumpy woman was promoting something... He didn't know what it was, didn't much care. She wasn't Peyton.

He shrugged the woman off quite rudely, leaving her standing disgruntled as he turned around again quickly.

Less than thirty second later, he felt another tap on his shoulder.

He'd been in this airport for what felt like an eternity. He was exhausted, all he wanted was to find Peyton and leave. He was angry. He was frustrated. And now this woman wouldn't give up trying to _sell_ him something?

Did he have to make her?

Mac whirled round, angrily exclaiming:

"Look _ma'am_, I don't know what your problem..."

His words got caught in his throat. It wasn't the short dumpy woman.

His mouth could form only one word.

"Peyton...!"

xXxXx

She'd been worried things would be awkward. An eight hour flight had provided her with ample time to practice the words she'd say when they met up again. But she'd planned nothing, no words had come to her.

As things transpired, neither had need words. Everything they felt poured out as Mac grabbed her hand. They just stood and stared at each over for well over a minute, just taking in their mutual presence.

Neither even tried to speak. Mac said all he needed when he lent down and gently brushed his lips across hers.

Peyton responded by letting her bags drop to the floor, reaching her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

Months of separation, of missing one another, of being apart all melted away in that single kiss. It was like no time has passed since she'd left the lipstick marks upon his cheek at Heathrow airport all that time ago.

A tear slid down Peyton's cheek.

xXxXx

As he kissed her, Mac reached up to stroke Peyton's cheek. His fingers felt the damp trail left by the single tear drop, and he pulled away, looking into her eyes, which were brimming with tears.

He didn't ask why she was crying; she didn't try to explain. He just wiped her cheek dry and pulled her flush into her chest, caressing her soft brown hair, pressing kisses into it as he did so.

xXxXx

For her part, Peyton simply grasped his jacket lapels in both hands, not wanting to let him go. She buried her face into him, revelling in the way he was clutching her so close.

She breathed in his scent; the scent she'd not been able to forget, and the scent she'd missed so much. The smell of Mac's cologne told her just one thing.

She was finally home.

* * *

**A/N – Okay, I hope that met your expectations Laurzz! And I hope everyone else liked it!**

**And yes - i know it's fluff and i'm sorry. I'll try and make the next chap really _unfluffy_ to make up for it - LOL**

**Why don't you review and let me know eh? :P**


	15. Chapter 15, Could Be Worse

**A/N – Thanks for reviewing!**

**Here we go, the plot's starting to take shape now... enjoy!**

* * *

**Chapter 15 - Could be worse**

Adam was rushing back to trace, evidence in hand. A look at his watch told him it was 9.15; he'd left Kendal to go fetch the flasks from Stella almost an hour ago. The journey should have taken him about 15 minutes.

He always had been _that guy_. The guy who turns up at an awkward moment, the one who interrupts important, private conversations... and now apparently he was the guy who overheard them too.

He hadn't meant to, obviously, but these things just seemed to _happen_ to him. And he now had a dilemma. If he spoke up, he could help two people realise their feelings for each other, and if things worked out, Adam would probably have a mention in the toasts at their wedding.

But part of Adam thought that Stella Bonasera and Detective Flack weren't the type of people to _need_ help. They were both independent enough to work own their own stuff. He'd leave them to it.

Adam on the other hand, needed some serious help. He was sure Kendal would be wondering why it had taken him so long to get the evidence, and he wasn't about to repeat what he'd heard. What would he say anyway? _"Sorry Kendal, I had to hide in the men's room so Danny and Flack wouldn't know I was eavesdropping. Then I had to hide outside the evidence locker so I could go in without interrupting another private conversation. And also, did you know Lindsay and Stella went to a gay bar...?"_

Instead, he just avoided trace, and started processing the flasks in another part of the lab.

* * *

As Adam settled into his task, Lindsay and Stella were just finishing theirs. It had been a long day for both women. They'd spent just over 7 hours processing their crime scene, and after just a short stop at Starbucks, had then spent well over an hour just logging in the evidence. They hadn't even begun analysing anything yet!

Lindsay was signing the last seal on her final piece of evidence when she slumped onto the nearest stool, hunched forward onto the work surface in front of her.

"Cheer up; Linds... could be worse..."

"How... Stella, how could it be worse? We'll be pulling a double to work through all this evidence, so it looks like we got about seven more hours before we can start heading home. So I won't be home for over eight. And we'll be on the liquid diet through this case I'm guessing – it doesn't look like we'll have time to eat. And it doesn't feel like all the coffee in the world could have enough caffeine to keep me awake right now. So you tell me Stella... how could this get any worse?"

"Jeez... it's just an expression... I don't know..."

"Exactly... but ah well... shit happens right?"

"Oooh... a little optimism there Linds...?"

They both chuckled a little as they put their evidence away until it was next needed. The only available space on the shelves of the evidence was on a top shelf; very high up. Lindsay groaned.

"Oh that's just not fair! How am I supposed to reach up there? I can barely lift a couple of these boxes, never mind magically grow a few inches to get them onto that shelf!"

She'd tried to keep a serious face, intending at first to make an actual complaint. But the situation was just too amusing. She closed her eyes and let out a tired giggle.

"That's ok Linds; I got your back... But you know, if I weren't in these heels, I don't think I'd be able to reach either. Besides, we have a stepladder in here somewhere..."

"Erm, no we don't. Mac and Danny borrowed it once and took it to reconstruction... I haven't seen it since... I don't think it made it outta there alive"

As they chatted, Stella had lifted the boxes up, until only a couple were left. It was true, she was stretched as tall as she could go, her long arms flexed just high enough. The last boxes, however, were too heavy for Stella to lift alone.

"Hey Linds... need your help with this one."

"Are we forgetting the fact that I'm slightly lacking in the height department...ya know... vertically challenged and all...?"

"Well I can't lift them...they're absolutely rammed with paper... all the reports we took from the scene. Grab one of those empty crates near the door... you can stand on one of those..."

"Yeah... 'coz they'd hold my weight..."

"Lindsay! You barely weigh anything! Look at you..."

Stella's comment was met with a simple raised eyebrow, so she continued.

"Look, I'll grab one too, okay? Come on Lindsay... otherwise we'll have to get someone to come help us... I can't be bothered... and we'll just look like weak girls..."

"Well Stella, we maybe we ARE just..."

Lindsay was beyond women's pride. She just wanted to get the job done, but she didn't dare finish her sentence. Stella could be quite the feminist when she wanted to be.

And so both women dragged an empty crate each over to the shelves. They were used for transporting larger, heavier pieces of evidence around the lab. Even so, both Stella and Lindsay tentatively stepped onto them, one foot at a time, testing their strength slowly.

When both women were satisfied that the crates could hold their weight, they turned to the table beside them, picking up the first box.

"Now remember Linds... lift with your knees... not your back..."

"Yeah yeah... if I pull something... I am _so_ milking the sick leave – just so you know..."

Facing each other, only 12 inches or so off the ground, the women stood holding the box between them. Nodding, to one another to signify they were ready, they lifted their arms up in unison.

As they lifted, Stella moved her foot slightly, to give her better balance. As she did so, the sharp stiletto heel of her shoe pierced the crate, cracking it all the way around.

It took Stella a second to realise what had happened, she looked down at her shoe, now stuck in the compromised crate. As she attempted to pull it free, the cracks gave way, splitting the crack completely in half.

Immediately relinquishing her hold on the heavy box, Stella fell backwards, falling squarely on her butt.

Lindsay, meanwhile, had seen the box Stella was standing on split, and so instinctively reached forward to stop her friend falling. As she did so, the heavy evidence box they'd been sharing had fallen, as Lindsay was unable to support its weight on her own.

Fumbling to catch the falling crate, and reaching out to catch Stella had thrown Lindsay's balance off too, and when the evidence box hit her own crate, she was jolted off it, landing with a harsh thud next to Stella.

* * *

Adam had extracted the pale blue liquid carefully. Stella had told him how the evidence had looked out of place in a biology lab, and she'd been right; the flasks were definitely designed for chemical use.

He'd taken a sample of the liquid and ran it through the computer carefully. He was especially nervous around unknown chemical, having received a nasty burn from liquid chlorine once.

As the computer worked its magic, Adam sat in his chair and swivelled slowly. He was just a big child at heart, and there had been many times when he'd wanted nothing more than to wheel himself through the halls as fast as he could...

Adam's thoughts were interrupted suddenly, as the computer beeped loudly. He was pleasantly surprised, not expecting to have indentified the substance so quickly.

As his eyes scanned over the computer screen, reading the results, his jaw dropped. His eyes flicked backwards and forwards from the computer screen to the conical flasks now lying upon the table next to him.

All of a sudden, he sprang into action, skirting around the table and flying out of the door, towards Mac's office.

* * *

Lindsay looked at Stella, then at the mess they'd made. The evidence box had burst open, scattering the room with masses of files. Upon impact with the ground, it appeared the files had distributed their contents around the room... covering everything with a sea of sheet after sheet of paper.

She looked at Stella, about to rant about her choice of footwear, when Stella spoke first. With a sombre facial expression and a quiet, innocent voice, she said just three words:

"My ass hurts."

The room erupted with gales of laughter, first Lindsay cracking up, followed quickly by Stella.

Lindsay pushed herself up, and found her laughter ceasing abruptly. She hissed slightly as her wrist bore her weight for a moment; she must have banged it during her fall.

"You okay Linds?"

"I'll survive – how's your ass?"

"Sore"

"Well that just serves you right; I was against this idea from the start..."

"Hey – don't blame me! It was a good idea – those crates would have been fine if..."

"...If you'd chosen _normal_ shoes to wear today."

"Exactly."

The two CSIs began giggling once more.

"Hey Stell, we better get this cleaned up before Mac gets back. And just be grateful the box only had paper in, and not the glass or something..."

"Yeah well forgive me if I don't count my blessings _just_ yet... we still have to somehow put all this paper back in the right files, in the right order... and you leave Mac to me... we wouldn't have had to endanger ourselves if he replaced lab equipment after he destroys it!"

Stella sounded quite irritable as she got to her feet. Lindsay concluded that Stella must have hit her ass harder than she'd thought...

The two stood in the middle of the chaos for a moment, silently considering how to best clean up, when Adam sprinted full into the midst of it.

He was out of breath... gasping for oxygen as he stammered...

"Hey... where... is...Mac...?"

"Umm... he's in his office I guess..."

Stella was cut off by Adam waving his arms.

"No... No... He's not there...I...checked..."

Stella looked at Lindsay, and vice versa. They were now extremely curious.

"Well, you found me Adam... maybe I can help. And... aren't you running evidence from OUR case...?"

Adam staggered over to the nearest stool and sank into it, regaining his breath.

"It's bad Stella...it's bad..."

"Adam... what's bad? Is it our evidence?" Lindsay spoke softly, unsure if Adam was almost hyperventilating only because of running – he looked scared too.

He nodded and spoke hurriedly:

"Yeah... the flasks... I ran a sample of their contents – the blue liquid. Literally seconds later, the computer made this... noise... The substance is called Suproxin... it's not that well known..."

"Suproxin... how do I know that name...?" Lindsay stared into space, deep in thought for a moment.

"Hey – I think I remember reading it in this Times article once...I... Oh my God, Adam... Wasn't Suproxin used in Chemical...?"

"...Warfare? Yeah. It was."

Adam interrupted Stella, and found his horrified expression mirrored back at him, twice over. Stella found herself speechless, while Lindsay could hardly string sentences together; just cursing quite a bit.

"It gets worse, you guys... When the computer had identified the results, it also popped up another message..."

"_And?_ ...Adam...?"

"The lab has been flagged up to HAZMAT. They've been informed that we have Suproxin in the lab, I think they're on their way over. That's why I gotta find Mac – he's in charge: he'll be getting a phone call telling us what to do..."

"What are we going to do?" Lindsay looked at Stella questioningly. Stella, in turn, looked from one face to another before her. Both looked scared, worried, and both were looking to her for direction.

"_Shit! _I don't know – but I think we need to evacuate the lab... now! Night shift isn't in yet... most people from day have gone home. Come on you guys, let's go round everyone up – but avoid the Suproxin at all costs!"

As they left the room in a rush, Stella said quietly to Lindsay:

"You remember how you asked me how this could get any worse..."

* * *

**A/N – Fancy dropping me a review now? Please? :D **


	16. Chapter 16, Action Mode

**A/N – Bec0512, FeatherGirl926, CaRiNeSs, laurzz, hockeymom, Kickass Scot, ssbailey and Kat Priestly - Thanks go to all you guys! **

**Firstly, thanks for actually sticking with me this far, and then thanks again for keep reviewing like you do!**

**Love you lot!**

**Chapter 16 - Action Mode**

They had stood in the same position for some minutes. Peyton had her face buried in Mac's chest, fingers grasping his jacket so tightly her knuckles were white. Mac had one arm around her back, clutching her as tight against him as they could get. His other hand rested on her head, at the very top of her neck. His fingers were entwined in her hair, stroking it slowly. Every now and then he'd look down and press a gentle kiss into her soft tresses, as though checking she was still there.

For a full five minutes or so, neither said a word, just stood enjoying one another's presence. They let people bustle around them, oblivious to anyone else being remotely near them. It was only after a rather large woman tripped over one of Peyton's discarded bags and started grumbling about it, that the two broke apart.

Peyton pulled herself free of Mac's embrace, apologising profusely to the woman, who just carried on walking. Giving a sly grin to Mac, she started gathering her luggage into a less dangerous position, before he stopped her quietly.

"Here, I got them."

Peyton grabbed her carry-on luggage; it was small and light, but she knew Mac could handle the rest. There were only a couple of suitcases, as she relatively travelled light, but Mac somehow managed to hold them both in one hand.

"Mac, what are you doing...? That's it, there's only those two... you could use both hands... do you..."

Mac simply interrupted her by taking her small pale hand in his much larger one.

"Then I wouldn't be able to do this..."

Peyton found tears welling in her eyes, not able to say a word. Instead, they both just headed towards the airport exits, in a comfortable silence. Although neither could find words to say at that moment, both knew that they had all the time in the world for conversation. This was the first day of the rest of their lives.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Mac had hailed them a cab, and made sure she got in first, out of the pouring rain. He then put all her luggage in the car's trunk and got in himself, shaking the raindrops of his coat as he did so. As soon as he was seated, both he and Peyton reached for one another's hands, already missing the lack of physical contact.

"Where you headed folks?" The cabbie spied them in his rear view mirror and smiled. The couple may not have been 'spring chickens' exactly, but they looked like newlyweds.

"Oh...erm... God I'm so stupid! I really didn't think this trip through Mac... I should have called ahead... booked a hotel or something... I didn't...I don't..."

"Hey Peyton..." Mac cut her off gently. "You're babbling again"

She playfully nudged his ribs and shushed him for poking fun at her. Mac responded by chuckling as he kissed her just under her ear lobe.

She shivered as he gave the driver the address of his own home.

"You know Peyton... you really don't need a hotel. It'd be a waste of money, wouldn't it? You'd be at my place most of the time anyway..."

"Hmm, I suppose so. I take it you don't mind me crashing out at yours then? I promise I won't make you sleep on the sofa..."

"I wouldn't mind if you were on there with me... it's quite a comfortable couch...remember?"

They just sat and grinned at each other, resembling twin Cheshire cats as they both recalled a night spent on Mac's couch, unable to make it into his bedroom.

Peyton was about to respond when Mac's cell phone began to ring; a call he cancelled without even looking at. He looked over at Peyton's shocked face.

"I don't believe I've ever seen Mac Taylor ignore a phone call before..."

"I don't believe the woman I love has ever flown halfway across the world for me before..."

Peyton looked into Mac's eyes and was about to respond when his cell began to ring once more. He cancelled it again.

"Peyton...listen to me for a second. You're back in New York... is it for good?"

"Of course! I can't lose you again!"

"Glad we're on the same page with that... so, are you going to try and get your old M.E's job back? I think both Sid and I would be able to pull some strings..."

"Mac! You can't do that!"

"Sure I can... besides, they never did find anyone to replace you... Sid's had a _lot_ of overtime."

Mac smiled, trying to guide the conversation where he wanted it to go.

"Well in that case... I'd be thrilled if I could! I'll call Sid tomorrow... see how I'll have to go about things."

"So you're looking for a permanent job... what about a place to stay? Did you sub-let your apartment?"

"Not anymore. I did until the lease was up... why?"

"Well... there's plenty of room at my apartment... you'll probably be there for the foreseeable future anyway... and it's hard work finding your own place in the city..."

"Mac Taylor... are you asking what I'm think you're asking?"

"Depends what you're thinking I guess..."

"MAC!"

"Ok... Ok... Peyton... will you move in with me?"

She gave him a girlish giggle, and lunged forward to hug him wildly, practically climbing into his lap.

As if it had been timed, Mac's cell phone started to ring for a third time.

They pulled apart, frustration clear in Mac's face. Peyton stopped him from ignoring it a third time.

"Just answer it Mac, it's obviously important..."

"It better be..."

He looked at her, and couldn't quite believe how lucky he was to have Peyton. She knew how important his work was to him. He kissed her hand, which was still enveloped in his, and used his other hand to answer his phone...

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

A few minutes later, there was no longer even a trace of a smile upon Mac's face. His brow was furrowed; an extremely sombre and serious expression on his face.

Peyton was glancing curiously at him. Whoever was speaking was giving Mac little chance to get a word in edgeways by the sound of things; it seemed he kept getting interrupted.

As Mac listened to his phone, a look of horror and disbelief fell upon his face; he clutched Peyton's hand a little tighter. After that he spoke quickly, ending the call.

"Say no more... I'll be right there."

He stared at his cell, before giving Peyton an apologetic glance. He asked her to give him a second as he leaned forward and asked the cabbie to change directions, giving the address of the crime lab instead. He also got his badge off his belt at held it up to the partition, clearly asking the driver to get there quickly.

Peyton was now just as anxious as she was curious; Mac never abused his badge; the call _must_ have been important.

A few moments later, Mac leaned back in his seat and took her hand once more, explaining just how important it was.

"That was a man from HAZMAT. They're on their way to the lab now, it seems something was run through a computer and sent red flags up. They couldn't tell me much, except that the entire building could be evacuated... or quarantined to stop contamination..."

"Contamination of what... what on earth was it?"

"Didn't say. It's bad though Peyton... When I left, most my team was still inside..."

"Shhh, it'll be okay Mac... They'll all be fine." She squeezed his hand reassuringly, not quite believing her own words, but hoping Mac did.

"Let's hope so... I better call Stella... fill her in..."

Peyton nodded, leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. New York cab drivers weren't known for being the safest of drivers, and at this speed...

Well Peyton just didn't want to know. She closed herself off from the traffic outside, at times coming too close for comfort – the cabbie was taking short cuts through alleys barely wide enough to allow for the vehicle.

Just a few minutes ago, things had been perfect...

* * *

Stella walked briskly down the hall, her teeth clenched. Her ankle was killing her; any normal person would have been limping or not moving at all. But she forced herself forward; brave face out for all to see.

When they'd fallen, Lindsay had obviously hurt her wrist. It was an angry red colour, and looked as though it was swelling already. She ignored her injury too, though, just holding it steady against her abdomen as they walked down the hall.

Stella suspected her ankle was sprained, but she passed it off as just a twist until she could stand it no further. They were in the centre of the lab, surrounded by the trace and AV labs. Mac's office was a stone's throw in one direction, the break room in the other. Both Adam and Lindsay looked at her curiously as Stella stopped, leaned against a wall and began pulling her shoes off.

She hissed as she put the weight back on the bad ankle, but before she could explain her cell began to ring.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Stella closed her cell with a snap and turned back to Lindsay and Adam, now fully in her 'action mode'.

"Okay you guys, that was Mac. Adam, you were right, HAZMAT just called him. They didn't tell him much, but they said this stuff was dangerous; we need to get everybody away from it.

Night shift won't be in yet – I'm going to call their supervisor and tell him to keep his team at home tonight. Lindsay, I want you to go round up Danny, Hawkes, and whoever else might be here. Adam, you're responsible for getting all the lab techs out. I know most of them have gone home, but just check in all the labs. Don't let them panic either – get them to follow the protocol for a fire drill: get the evidence packed away quickly and get out!

I want everyone to meet at the elevators ASAP – then we'll get outta here together – okay?"

"Okay!"

"Let's go..."

Lindsay and Adam set off immediately; Adam was heading back to trace, instinctively getting Kendal first, even though they'd all be leaving at the same time. Lindsay headed back towards the locker room, feeling the same instincts about Danny, despite their recent problems. The locker room was the last place she knew him to be in.

Stella walked barefoot towards Mac's office to get the night shift supervisor's number. As soon as she was sure no one could see her, she allowed herself to limp a little. There was no one around to put a brave face on for.

As she got to Mac's office, she found comfort in the fact that at least he'd already got out of the lab. And as far as she knew...so had Flack.

The second thought made her stomach jump a little; although she was glad Flack was probably already safe, she couldn't help but hope he'd stuck around a while. She'd feel a lot safer herself if he were in this mess with her.

But she pushed her slightly selfish thoughts aside, guilty for having them in the first place. She put herself back in her 'action mode', and found the number she was looking for.

She sat on Mac's desk as she dialled, then looked up as she waited for the call to connect. She looked out through his office's glass walls, feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders.

**A/N - okay. At the end of chap 14, I said that I'd try to compensate for the fluffiness. But I couldn't really do it – ended up with a girly Lindsay / Stella scene :P**

**But a few of you said you liked fluff – so I don't feel that guilty for carrying on with a bit more Mac / Peyton... :D**


	17. Chapter 17, All That Jazz

**A/N – Thanks for your reviews – keep em coming! :D**

**Italics represent the thoughts of whoever the section's about (I.E. Adam, Lindsay or Stella)**

**Enjoy...**

* * *

**Chapter 17 – All That Jazz**

Adam was at the trace lab in seconds. It was now 9.45. He'd left Kendal almost an hour and a half ago.

He'd avoided her to steer clear of having to explain why a 15 minute trip had taken him almost an hour. He'd taken his evidence, _that_ evidence, clear across the lab to evade that conversation.

But now he was beyond pride, now it was all instinct. They'd not even been on a date, but Adam felt fiercely protective of Kendal already; he had to get her out of harm's way, fast.

_Hey, seeing as we're getting off early... maybe I can bump up that first date to tonight..._

Then as Adam considered his thoughts further, he shook his head as he walked, looking disgusted with himself.

_What the hell is wrong with me? We're being evacuated and I'm just thinking about a date? There's something seriously wrong with me! _

_At least I didn't say it out loud... no one knows what a horrible person I must be..._

_Although... I'll bet Kendal wouldn't think it horrible... she'd probably say yes...probably suggest a place to go..._

As he contemplated her possible answers, he walked into trace. His thoughts were interrupted as his heart sank. She wasn't there.

_Crap! Where is she?_

* * *

Lindsay had turned back and headed towards the locker room. She knew that the only way he'd still be in there was if he were having a shower.

Then she'd have to see him all dripping wet... his hair would be all spiky... maybe in just a towel.

_Damn it!_

They were in a point of crisis – the lab was being evacuated, everyone could be in very real danger. And she was picturing Danny Messer in a towel?

_There's something wrong with me! _

As Lindsay Monroe approached the locker room, she was fully conflicted. On the one hand, she wanted to find Danny and then everyone else and just get out ASAP, so she hoped he was in the locker room.

On the other, if he was there, she didn't wholeheartedly trust herself to not jump on him right there and then. Danny had a way of abolishing her self control and her inhibitions. He was just like tequila.

Thinking about tequila only brought memories of their first night together to the surface. True, it hadn't been the typical first date scenario, but to her, it'd been perfect. She'd been so content to wake up in his arms, even if they were on top of a pool table.

The sheer memory of that night's activities brought a blush to her face. Lindsay let out a sigh.

_What the hell? I can't just break up with him one day, and then picture us having sex the next... can I?_

_Well I __did__ say I'd still be there for him... and I __did__ tell Stella I'm starting to forgive him..._

_No! I..._

Lindsay's thought train abruptly screeched to a halt as she rounded the door of the locker room. It was empty, silence filling every inch. She didn't bother to check the shower stalls; if they'd been running she would have heard them. There was only one conclusion to be drawn... he wasn't there.

_Crap! Where is he?_

* * *

Stella had finished all the calls she needed to make. She'd spoken to the night shift supervisor, and a couple of his team; the manager of the cleaning and maintenance crew; she'd rung down the morgue, only to get no answer. She'd paged Sid, who had promptly called her back, telling her that the 'not-so-sweet aroma of a decomp' had sent most of his team home early. He'd only just left himself, and the morgue was already empty – one load of her mind.

One load was still very much prominent though; there was one phone call she dearly longed to make.

_I can't call Flack in the middle of an evacuation! Besides, what would I say? 'Oh hi Don, are you safe? Bummer, I was hoping you'd come back and be in danger with me... you know, spend some quality __time together, maybe even take a HAZMAT shower... just the two of us... and a few guys in big yellow suits...'_

_God I'm an idiot... Although, maybe I could call him... professionally. At least that way I'd know for sure if he's still around the lab or not. Or would a call seem too desperate...? Would a text be more casual...? What about..._

Stella realised how stupid she was being. She sighed and quickly tapped out a text message on her iPhone.

_Hi Don, r u still in lab? Or bk precinct alrdy? Let me know asap – v v v important!! Stell xxx_

She still debated on the wording, the use of their names, the kisses at the end... but Stella was sick of questioning herself. She sent the text quickly, closing her eyes as she did so.

She put the phone down, and used Mac's office phone to try and call HAZMAT again. She'd tried three times already with no avail. This time was no different, her call was directed straight to an answering machine, and she was about to leave her fourth message when her phone began vibrating.

_Screw HAZMAT!_

She slammed the Mac's phone back down and lunged for her phone, knocking it off his table as she did so. It made contact with the floor just seconds later, the screen immediately cracking.

Stella scooped up her beloved iPhone, but barely mourned its sudden demise at all. She stared at the broken object, not even considering a possible repair; it was beyond that stage, she'd definitely need a new one.

But now she'd never read her text; wouldn't know what Flack had replied, or indeed if it had even been him.

_Crap! Where is he?_

* * *

Adam had just begun to panic when he looked up a little. Through the glass walls he had cursed so much earlier, he could see Kendal with the new lab tech – what was his name? Anderson? Anthony?

_Who cares?_

The only encounters he'd had with the new guy had been unpleasant for Adam. The last time, Kendal had offered to take him out for coffee, sharing tips on being the 'newbie'. Adam found himself harbouring an instant dislike for the man.

Kendal and Andrews were in the adjacent room; she appeared to be helping him with something: typical of Kendal really. Adam had left her to her own devices, and she hated being alone.

Adam was in the room in a few strides, going straight to Kendal's side.

"Hey Adam... didn't you take your merry time...? I was beginning to think..."

"Kendal, we gotta go. Now."

He'd never interrupted her before, always loving to hear her speak. But it was not the moment for small talk and intent listening. They had to leave.

Kendal stole a glance at Andrews carefully before she answered.

"Well, maybe later...I was just talking to Andrews here, and we were..."

"Yeah, we've gotta go now... all of us. We're being evacuated!"

"What? Adam, what the hell's going on? I can't hear the fire alarm or anything..."

"I know, I know... I'll explain on the way. Basically it's really bad... you know, mortal danger and all that jazz. Stella's told me to round up all the lab techs... are we the only ones left tonight?"

"Oh my God... Um, yeah... just the three of us... we better check though huh?"

Adam was gobsmacked. He'd utterly freaked out when they did a _fire drill_ for God's sake. And here was Kendal, faced with evacuation, and she was actually thinking about things sensibly, responsibly... rationally. What was wrong with her?

Come to think of it, Stella had been exactly the same... Lindsay hadn't seemed that fazed either... maybe it was a woman thing.

He looked at Andrews shiftily, being the only other male present, a possible yardstick against which people's reactions could be measured.

He was just stood silently, taking in all the information. But he wasn't expressing any emotions at all; not fear, anxiousness, nervousness... nothing.

It unnerved Adam to say the least.

"Yeah I guess we better. Come on, let's go. We're meeting everyone at the elevators as soon as we can... we better hurry."

Nodding, Kendal shed her lab coat, and motioned for Andrews to do the same.

_God, how docile can you get? Does he really need to be told to do everything? That's a lab coat buddy; you're leaving the lab, so leave the coat too, huh? Jeez, ever hear of initiative? Or how about plain common sense?_

In his mind, Adam was ranting at the new guy. He cut his rant short when Kendal looked up at him, her hand resting on his arm.

"Earth to Adam... you ready?"

"Sure let's go."

She left her hand on his arm as they made their way out, and began to check the lab for other signs of life. Andrews followed meekly behind them; having yet to make a single utterance.

Yep, Adam was _definitely_ unnerved.

_What kind of guy is all calm and silent after hearing his life could be in danger? Or maybe he doesn't understand what mortal danger is... moron._

* * *

Lindsay spun on her heel and immediately left the locker room. Danny's shift was over. If he and Hawkes were still in the building, they only other place they'd be in would be the break room.

And if they weren't in there, then Lindsay would admit defeat and call them... Or rather, call Hawkes...

If need be, she'd get Stella or someone to call Danny. She'd probably just freeze up on the phone.

As she approached, Lindsay took full advantage of the glass walls and spied Danny and Hawkes in the break room. Hawkes was using his characteristic hand gestures to illustrate his speech. Danny was sat next to him on one of the couches, fervently taking notes, apparently on what Hawkes was saying.

Lindsay stood in the doorway for a few seconds before they noticed her presence. She managed to hear a part of their conversation:

"And I'm not talking like a dozen or so Danny... try and fill the room as much as possible. Every surface covered...It'll be worth it, I promise. And don't worry about not knowing her favourite... You could go traditional romance with roses... or lilies maybe... lots of women like lilies. Or maybe something that's special to the two of you..."

"What about... daisies...?"

"Why? What's so special about daisies?"

"Ya know what... never mind..."

Danny stopped speaking suddenly and turned around, his back having faced the door. He froze when he saw who was stood there. Luckily, Hawkes was able to speak up.

"Hey Linds... what's up?"

"Um...You're gonna wish you never asked Sheldon... we all gotta leave: now."

"Why...what..."

Lindsay anticipated a wave of questioning, and summarised and briefly as she could, interrupting the doctor's inquiries.

"Stella and I collected some evidence today... Adam found out it's called Suproxin... yeah you'll have heard of it. Its use has been reported in chemical warfare... and it's as bad as it sounds. HAZMAT are paying us a house call... we're being evacuated."

"Phew... this day just keeps getting better huh?"

Hawkes stood up, but Danny remained seated. Lindsay spoke directly at him for the first time.

"Danny... did you hear me? We have to get out! We're meeting Stella and everyone else at the elevators as soon as we got everyone rounded up... we..."

"What happened to your wrist?"

Lindsay looked down at her arm, stunned. She'd just told him the lab was possibly contaminated with supplies for chemical warfare... and he'd noticed her wrist had received a bang: typical Danny.

Well, typical of the old Danny; the Danny who'd flown to Montana, who'd given her a snow day after making her breakfast... the one she'd fell in love with.

Not the Danny who forgot her birthday and cheated on her.

_Maybe __my__ Danny's back..._

"I...um... I just banged it a little..."

"It looks sore...What happened?"

"Long story... blame Stella..."

_Or her shoes..._

Lindsay and Danny stood a moment, just looking at each other. His vivid blue eyes were reflected in her chocolate brown ones and vice versa. For a few precious moments, they were simultaneously oblivious to Hawkes. The silence was broken as Hawkes cleared his throat slightly.

"Err... you guys? Evacuation...? HAZMAT...? Hello...?"

_Damn – how long did I just zone out for?_

"Oh...Yeah...right... so is anyone else around?"

"Nope, just me and Danny... Flack and Angell left a while ago. We need to check for other people... clear the lab?"

"Yeah... let's go."

Lindsay turned and left the room first, waiting slightly to let the men catch her up. Danny hurried out quickly, careful to be ahead of Sheldon so he could walk next to Lindsay, leaving Hawkes to walk next to him.

As Lindsay walked, she held her arm flush against her abdomen, cushioning her injured wrist. The movement didn't go unnoticed by Danny.

"Hey... Monta... I mean... Lindsay..."

_Did he just call me...?_

She looked up immediately when he almost used her nickname. She was quite disappointed to hear him correct himself and use her given name instead.

"Yeah?"

Her voice was low and quiet, matched moments later by his. They weren't intentionally lowering their voices; it just seemed slightly disrespectful to add noise to such a peaceful environment, despite the drama that was happening within it.

"Let Shel take a look at your wrist... it looks a little swollen... you coulda done some damage there..."

Concern was evident in his voice, and there was nothing but tenderness and care as he gently brushed his fingertips across the forearm as the afflicted wrist.

Lindsay's skin erupted with goose pimples at his touch, and suddenly the images of Danny in a towel seemed to resurface. She didn't trust her voice, and so simply nodded in response.

Danny smiled gently, and placed a hand in the small of her back, guiding her in between him and Hawkes, giving the opportunity for a quick examination while they made their way through the lab.

Not wanting to overstep any boundaries, Danny quickly withdrew his hand as soon as she was in place. And Lindsay immediately missed his guidance. For those few moments he was touching her, she felt that little bit safer; like she was drowning, and he was her lifejacket.

Hawkes gave the diagnosis of a sprain, possibly a hairline fracture; he couldn't tell without an x-ray. After a few minutes, the trio had found the lab to be empty, and so had made their way to the elevators where Kendal, Adam, Andrews and Stella were already waiting.

Lindsay looked either side of her, at each of the men standing there. Sheldon was looking forward, making eye contact with Stella and smiling. Danny was already looking at her, but looked away quickly when she looked at him.

A few seconds later he lifted his gaze once more and met hers with a shy smile. She returned the gesture with a small curve of her lips. It may have been a small action, but she felt her eyes light up with it, a feeling she hadn't felt in weeks.

_Okay let's get outta here._

* * *

Stella wasn't a sentimental person. After the fire in her apartment, she'd been more upset at the inconvenience of it all, rather than the loss of her personal possessions and such.

But Stella sat and stared at her broken phone for a good few minutes for finally accepting that it was broken. Even then she gently slid it back in her pocket, not wanting to be separated from it; she'd find a way to read that text if it killed her.

She then stood up, promptly wincing as her weight was supported by her injured ankle.

_Oh for God's sake. Of all days to hurt myself... it's got to be on the __one day__ we have a crisis on our hands!_

_At least it's better than the last crisis we had in here... Doubt I could run away from the Irish mob like this!_

Since she'd broken her phone, Stella was even more anxious to get out, she now felt more vulnerable somehow, as though her lifeline had gone. Even though she knew that others would have cell phones, she couldn't help but feel that her contact with the outside world was now more limited.

_Okay... time to rejoin that outside world..._

She ticked off her mental to-do list, ensuring she'd made all the phone calls she needed to. She had.

Nodding to herself, she looked around for signs of another person's presence before she began to limp out the room... still barefoot.

She neared the elevators to see Adam already stood there, with presumably the only other lab techs still around; Kendal and Andrews the new guy.

Andrews was stood quietly, separate from the other two, with his hands in his pockets. Kendal and Adam were stood together, leaning against the wall as the chatted. The both stood up straight when they saw Stella approaching, looking slightly shifty.

_Oh come on! What am I...their headmistress? I'm not Mac or anything, I don't give a damn if they're leaning against the walls..._

"Hey..."

"Hey Adam... this everybody?"

"All us lab techs... Lindsay isn't back yet... we haven't seen her."

Stella nodded and turned to lean against the wall. As she did so, she lifted her painful leg, hoping the action would look casual and not give away her injury; she didn't need people being all sympathetic...

She closed her eyes, the day taking its toll, keeping them shut as she heard Kendal speak.

"Um... Stella?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not wearing any shoes..."

Stella opened her eyes and looked at the young woman. The humour of their situation hit her, and Stella let out a soft chuckle.

_Great... I feel like someone just took a baseball bat to my ankle... the lab's being evacuated...Mac's not here, I have no idea where Don is, Lindsay's really taking her time getting back... my phone's broken... and now I left my shoes somewhere back in the middle of the lab, 'coz i couldn't walk in them after falling off a crate in the evidence locker. Which is now a mess, looking like a twister just hit it and scattered a forest's worth of paper everywhere... And now Kendal's noticed I'm barefoot... great._

_Oh well, I'm not going back for em now... it's not like they're my Jimmy Choos or anything..._

Stella closed her eyes again; she really couldn't be bothered to explain properly. She'd let Lindsay do that if she ever got back...

"No I'm not Kendal... no I'm not."

A few minutes later, she heard noises coming towards them. She opened her eyes again to see Lindsay walking at them, flanked either side by Danny and Hawkes.

_Good... that's everybody. Let's finally get outta here!_

* * *

**A/N – Phew... that took me a while! Sorry if it's not very cohesive – I kept writing a bit, then leaving it, and then coming back to it again...**

**I hope the next chap is back on form! :D**


	18. Chapter 18, Mr Movie Star

**A/N – Okay, I haven't updated in seven whole days! I know it's not **_**that**_** long, but when I first started writing this, I was adding another chap almost every day... so it feels like ages!**

**I've got exams at college for the next few weeks, starting tomorrow, so I might have to leave it another seven days before the next UD – sorry! **

**Thank you my lovely reviewers – you keep me motivated to carry on with this, you know who you are!**

**And here we go...**

* * *

**Chapter 18 – Mr Movie Star**

The wait for the elevator was excruciatingly long. No one had thought to push the button until Hawkes, Lindsay and Danny had reached the four people waiting for them. It was at that moment that the whole group realised why they were stood there.

Andrews was stood the closest to the button, but was stood staring silently at his feet. Danny raised his eyebrows questioningly in Stella's direction, but just leaned around him to push it himself.

Adam and Kendal looked at one another, now feeling too awkward to finish their conversation with so many people present. They'd been standing far enough away from Stella and Andrews, who'd both looked extremely distracted anyway. But now with five other people there, it was harder to discuss their upcoming date without being overheard.

Danny and Lindsay looked at each other too, both praying for the opportunity to talk alone somewhere... a talk that was long overdue. Danny was dying to tell her he was moving; Lindsay was desperate to share her feelings with him.

Hawkes was just grateful that the powers that be had at least gotten Jess out the mess he was currently in. Whatever was going on between them had just started; they'd only shared a coffee and conversation in the break room! And Hawkes was sure that nothing would kill off a potential romance quicker than a near death experience.

Stella tried to casually ask Hawkes if there was anyone else in the lab. He responded with almost the same answer he'd given Lindsay, telling her that Flack and Angell had left some time earlier, and that they'd checked the rest of the lab was empty.

* * *

_**Stella:**_

_Okay... so he misread the nerves... I guess he thinks I'm worrying about other people's safety..._

_Well, technically, I am... but it's just one person..._

_And technically, that 'one person' is already safe..._

She sighed heavily.

_I just wish I knew what that text had said... it's really bugging me now – and I'll read the damn thing if it kills me! _

_But why am I such a horrible person? Don's safe... he's home and dry... in no danger at all. I should be happy about that... it's more than can be said about the rest of us!_

_But why am I just hoping that when these doors open, he'll be stood there, waiting to come back upstairs to us... to me..._

_It's just typical... Mac's not here, so everyone's looking to me for directions... I'm supposed to be in charge, be the strong one... but I'm not...I need someone to lean on..._

_Kendal and Adam have each other apparently... And Lindsay and Danny have been to hell and back these past few weeks... but __they__ still seem to have each other._

_And who do I have? Hawkes or an emotionally cut off, muted weirdo... who's __still__ staring at his feet... my God, does he have a foot fetish or something?_

_I think I'll stick with Hawkes for a while..._

_

* * *

__**Hawkes:**_

_Okay... keep smiling. So your first date with Jess was in the break room... So you drank that awful coffee instead of an '87 Bordeaux... So it was interrupted by Danny wanting advice about how to fix his screwed up love life... So what if she's now getting a __real__ coffee with Flack..._

_They're just friends, right? Or maybe I was wrong... maybe she was just being friendly or something... maybe there __is__ something going on with her and Flack..._

_But she's safe – that's the main thing. I can't really see a romance blossoming with HAZMAT as a backdrop anyways..._

_The elevator's on its way, we're gonna get on it... we're gonna get outta here... It's gonna be fine... we're all gonna be fine..._

_Not that we look it..._

_Lindsay's wrist looks bad – really painful... Danny looks as though he hasn't slept in weeks then dragged through a hedge backwards... Adam looks like he's going to be sick... can't quite see Kendal...that Andrews guy is... well he seems __really__ interested in his feet..._

_Um... okay, each to their own...But, God... those glasses... and the face... who does he remind me of...?_

_Anyway... Stella... whoa, Stella's looking at me... umm...just smile and nod..._

_But... __why__ is Stella looking at me..._

_And why... wait... __why__ isn't she wearing shoes?_

* * *

The elevator announced its arrival with a 'ding' that echoed throughout the empty lab, its doors opening.

Not one of them had ever seen the lab so vacant, and the way the elevator broke the silence so eerily sent chills down everyone's spines. Or seemingly, all but one.

Andrews stepped into the elevator first, without a word or look at anyone, and once he was inside he leaned against the wall, his eyes locked back on his feet.

The four CSIs and two lab techs who were left outside didn't quite know how to react. Stella, Hawkes and Kendal looked quite disturbed, throwing furtive glances around them, debating whether they wanted to be in an enclosed space with such a strange being.

Lindsay had tried to mask her giggle as a cough – unsuccessfully, which had matched the snigger from Danny. Adam found the situation funny too, although it seemed he was laughing more _at_ Andrews than _with_ him.

* * *

_**Kendal:**_

_Holy crap... I swear to __God__... this is __just__ like a horror movie..._

_The lab's so creepy and quiet... any minute now, some mutilated zombie, or psycho murderer, or weirdo alien thing is gonna come and jump us..._

_Maybe the best thing __wouldn't__ be to go in the enclosed space... we need to be somewhere with exits..._

_I bet I'd die too... the blondes __always__ die in horror movies._

_Stella's like the heroine – so she'd die. Danny's good looking – he's a goner. Lindsay's small but scrappy – I bet she'd be the one that goes down fighting! Hawkes is the genius – he'll die __right__ before he can tell us how to escape or something..._

_Adam would survive. He'd be that unlikely hero – the only guy left alive... but he saves the world, and you'd never expect it. It'd be one of those 'sixth sense' endings..._

_Hang on... I'm missing someone here... __oh my god!_

_That Andrews guy! He's new... he doesn't fit in...he looks __really __shifty._

_He looks kinda anal... I bet he was bullied at school... __oh my god__ – he's like the __classic__ horror movie killer!!_

_SHIT! He's gone off into the elevator first to retrieve his axe or something... __oh my god__..._

_Screw chemical warfare or whatever... I can see the headlines now...the __New York__ Chainsaw massacre... the __lab__ has eyes... __Lab__ of 100 corpses... silence of the __lab__...__oh my god_

_I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die... I'm gonna die..._

_Actually... he might __act__ like 'scary Mr Psycho Killer' but he looks more like... God who is it? I really can't put my finger on it... It's that bottom lip... how it's kinda... droopy... kinda... dopey looking..._

_Anyways... why are we all still standing here? Shouldn't someone else get in the elevator too... or are we going down one at a time? Maybe no one else wants to be with Michael Myers in there..._

* * *

The six had been stood there so long the doors actually began to close again, prompting Danny to throw his hand between the doors, stopping them. He coughed before speaking.

"Well... I guess we better... erm...leave?"

As though snapping from a daze, Stella's head shot up, taking charge once more.

"Yep, good idea... what with the lethal chemicals and all..."

She made a move into the elevator before she was stopped by Hawkes, who inquired as to the whereabouts of her shoes.

Stella simply looked at Lindsay, who had resumed her giggling; only this time she made no attempt to hide it. Her gaze shifted to Kendal who was staring curiously back, obviously still wondering about the topic herself, having received such an unsatisfactory answer before.

"Sheldon... that would be quite a long story; if you really wanna know, get Lindsay to explain once we get outta here... okay?"

"Okay... but is your foot alright? Are you limping?"

Stella motioned for everyone to get in the elevator before responding. She followed Lindsay and Kendal in with as must dignity as she could muster.

"Nope... I'm fine."

"Erm... sure... except that you _are_. What happened?"

"Look, it's just a twist okay?"

"Okay, but when we get outta here, I'm taking a look..."

"Sure thing _mom_"

Hawkes chuckled at her childlike response and entered the elevator after her. He pulled her arm around his shoulders and slid an arm around her waist, baring most of her weight.

"I'd offer you a piggy back, but..."

Stella laughed right out loud.

"As much fun as that would be... it might not be the best idea, seeing as we're being _evacuated_ Doc. I'll keep your offer in mind though... and thanks. This is much better..."

"No problem Stell."

Hawks grinned at her and looked around the rest of the elevator as the doors closed.

* * *

_**Adam:**_

_Yup... this is just peachy._

_I finally manage to ask out Kendal and we get __evacuated..._

_Brilliant... we don't even get a chance to be alone either... we __just__ get talking about where we're going tomorrow and everyone turns up... and __now__ I'm not even next to her... where is she anyways?_

xXxxXxXx

Adam looked all around the elevator car:

Andrews was still leaning against the rear wall, hunched right into a corner.

In front of Andrews, Stella was leaning against Hawkes, her injured ankle lifted cautiously from the ground, her weight on one leg.

In the other back corner stood Kendal, her attention split between Adam, at the front of the elevator, and Andrews who next to her. She dearly wanted to stand with Adam, but was afraid moving would look as though she was purposely avoiding the new lab tech. She decided she was past caring, and sidestepped neatly around Lindsay until she was next to Adam.

xXxxXxXx

_**Adam:**_

_Oh my god.__ She actually moved to be next to me...that's a good thing right? She showing that she's interested?_

_Or maybe she's just avoiding that weirdo new guy... freak._

_I wouldn't want to stand next to him myself... there's just something about the guy..._

_The way he just stands there... so silent... and hey buddy! What is __so__ interesting about your shoes?_

_Jeez, before he got here, I thought __I__ was socially awkward... at least he raises my self esteem a tad... _

_Okay... maybe it's not his fault... but he just looks so familiar..._

_Have I seen his mug shot on CODIS or something? _

_No... Mac wouldn't hire someone like that... would he?_

_Besides... he doesn't look like an ex con... wouldn't have made it through prison alive..._

_I wonder where I know him from..._

_Anyways... she's here... Kendal's next to me for a reason._

_She looks kinda scared too... I've never seen her scared before... what can I...?_

_Okay... just act casual... just reach over and take her hand..._

_Be suave... be sophisticated... you can do this... just take her hand... _

_Grab her hand... DAMN IT... be a man!_

Quickly, and quite clumsily, Adam took Kendal's hand.

_Wayhey! I did it!_

_Phew... hope our actual date isn't gonna be this hard..._

* * *

Lindsay, now finding herself at the back of the space, leaned gently against the wall, all traces of giggles gone; fear obviously making an appearance. Her wrist was pulled in against her stomach again, her other hand rubbing it gently. She sighed heavily and closed her eyes as she felt the lift start to descend.

_**Lindsay:**_

_Kendal... I'm gonna kill you._

_I know I laughed at this guy... but that doesn't mean I wanna stand next to him!_

_Just... look at him. He's got that dangerous power nerd look... like some evil comic book genius..._

_I bet he got more wedgies in high school than he did hot meals... poor guy..._

_Still... if I have to stand next to him... I'm either gonna burst out laughing again – I mean how long can a person be interested by his __feet__ for?_

_And if I don't laugh – I'm gonna wave my hand in front of his gormless face, just to see if he notices..._

_God my wrist hurts... I wanna be the brave one... like Stella._

_I wanna ignore it and carry on... but I swear; falling backwards off a bucking horse didn't hurt this much... And I'm so tired... I couldn't sleep with all that 'Danny stuff' going on... and it's been such a long day..._

_Maybe if I just close my eyes for a minute... my lids are... really... heavy..._

* * *

Danny had been the last person on the elevator, and so was right at the front, near the doors. Although it had been barely audible, he'd heard Lindsay let out a sigh. He'd turned around to see that Kendal had moved, leaving Lindsay right at the back, her eyes closed, stroking her swollen wrist.

He dismissed the idea of standing next to her, thinking that she'd not want to be near him, looking like she did; miserable.

But as he turned, he saw Adam grasp Kendal's hand. He was utterly shocked; Adam was a nice enough guy but Danny never imagined that Adam would _ever_ have the balls to make a first move. Especially at work, especially with other people all around... and _especially_ on Kendal.

Danny looked back to Lindsay again, but her eyes were still closed. He looked across to Stella and Hawkes instead, and caught Sheldon's attention. With darting eye movements and raised eyebrows, Danny drew Hawkes' gaze to the pair of entwined hands, Adam's thumb now stroking Kendal's in soft circular movements.

Hawkes grinned and nudged Stella, who immediately saw the pairing emerging before her. She raised her eyes to see Danny's shell shocked expression and released a small outburst of laughter, causing everyone to look at her.

Investigating the source of the noise, Lindsay had opened her eyes. She determined it was Stella who'd laughed, and that it was probably at Kendal and Adam, stood in the centre of the elevator, holding hands.

* * *

_**Lindsay:**_

_Why is Stella laughing at them...? They're so sweet!_

_At least they have each other in this freaking mess... that's more than can be said for the rest of us..._

_Hawkes looks interested in Angell, and Stella's sorta got something going with Don... but they're sticking together – they're not alone._

_I am – and I wish more than anything I wasn't... It's just typical, if this had happened a few weeks ago, Danny would be glued to my hip... he'd hold me, stroke my hair... whisper that everything would be okay..._

_And now...? Now he's on the opposite side of the elevator, leaving me to cosy on up to the weirdo new guy... thanks Danny._

_Oh wait... he's looking at me... he's looking at me..._

_Please come over here... please please please. Come on Danny, you always know what I'm thinking... look at me... I need you... get your ass over..._

_Oh my god..._

* * *

_**Danny**_

_Damn you Adam, making me look bad._

_Or is he? Fuck... I'm so confused..._

_What's gonna be the right thing? If I go over to her and she's not ready to be around me yet – I'll look like I'm pushing her, and she'll pull away..._

_But if she wants me over there and I stay here, she's gonna think I don't care... and she'll pull away..._

_She just looks so defeated... exhausted... and her wrist looks so painful._

_She'll be downplaying it... being so brave like she always is... that's my girl..._

_Except she's not really my girl anymore. I screwed up, it's my fault..._

_She felt like my girl when we were waiting for the elevator though... we have the exact same sense of humour... I knew she'd laugh at that new kid... what was his name?_

_She's not laughing now though is she? I wonder if it's because of him... he seemed to unnerve everyone else... Kendal looked kinda scared of him..._

_But seriously... what's his problem? I thought Adam was socially awkward... but this guy gives anal a whole new meaning..._

_And yet he kinda reminds me of someone... like someone outta some movie or something... I bet Montana knows... might be a good ice breaker to use..._

_Hell... she looks past ice breakers right now... wait... she's looking at me..._

_Is that hate in her eyes...? No. Okay, good sign. She is kinda staring though... talking to me with her eyes like she always does... God knows I can't resist those beauties..._

_She's scared... feeling lonely too. I think she wants me there with her..._

_But hang on a second there Messer... What if I'm wrong... what if she's actually begging me to stay away...?_

_No, I'm right... she looks terrified... she's playing with her sleeve now... she's nervous. Just make like Kendal... walk around her and Adam and go stand with Lindsay..._

_Better yet; stand in between her and Mr Movie Star... sorta act as a buffer... it might make her feel better..._

* * *

Danny was next to Lindsay in just a couple of steps. Her chocolate eyes stared up at him in disbelief, yet at the same time full of gratitude and adoration. The emotions she poured into a single look weren't missed by Danny... or Stella.

Danny took that as a green light and slipped a hand gently around her waist, to rest comfortably in the small of her back. Lindsay opened her mouth to speak as the elevator came to a halt. She closed her mouth again and simply nodded, clearly motioning that they'd speak later.

He nodded back at her, and like everyone else in the elevator car, they both turned their attention to the doors as they slid open.

Seven pairs of feet went to move forward... and then abruptly stopped. Seven pairs of eyes widened as they looked out into the atrium of the building. And in unison... seven mouths dropped open.

* * *

**A/N – just in case you didn't get it, the italics represented thoughts. I'll bet you did though, it was kinda obvious...**

**Anyway... as always, reviews are very much appreciated – thanks for reading so far!**


	19. Chapter 19, My Boyfriend's a RockStar

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A/N - Thank you all so much for the reviews from the last chapter! Your responses will help me write the next couple of chapter and actually get them correct!

muchmadness, sosswimmer13, hockeymom, CaRiNeSs, and pinkyzq - you guys are awesome: thank you!

ClancyK and Ericka - your reviews were anon. so i couldn't reply personally, but thank you so much!

To anyone else who has reviewed, i've tried to reply personally to as many as possible, i'm sorry if i've missed you (exams, revision, work... my plate's a little full at the moment!)

But every single one of your reviews are appreciated so very much! I guess if you also write FanFic, then you'll understand!

**So, as promised... Chap 19!**

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**Chapter 19 - My Boyfriend's a Rockstar**

Peyton kept her eyes closed for most of the journey. True, she wasn't that fond of New York City cabs, but for the most part, she was just overwhelmed with everything; she didn't trust herself to keep her tears at bay if she had them open.

As she leaned against Mac's shoulder, he slipped his arm around the back of her and pulled Peyton even closer. The arm behind her was tracing slow and gentle circles onto her hip; she could feel his fingers dragging across the thin fabric of her blouse, and her skin erupted in goose pimples.

Mac had used his other hand to cup her cheek for a while after he'd ended his second phone call. He softly filled her in on the details, and she could hear the worry and concern screaming in his quiet voice. She'd only heard that in Mac's voice a handful of times; it scared her. His face was close to hers, and she couldn't help but wish they were being so intimate in less serious circumstances.

Both Mac and Peyton had almost forgotten their plans of moving in together, on a subconscious level, they both felt it would be inappropriate to feel so happy and excited when lives could be in danger. The memory of their earlier conversation hadn't quite been erased though, just an unspoken understanding passed between them, stating that they would continue where they'd left off when the whole mess had been smoothed over.

Peyton could feel jetlag creeping up on her. She felt physically and emotionally drained, wanting nothing more than to curl up in Mac's soft bedcovers wearing his big bathrobe, as she'd done so many times before.

_What if he's got a new bed spread? I've been gone a while now... he's probably got a new bathrobe too... He could have redecorated his whole bloody apartment by now!_

_If only I'd never gone to London – if we hadn't lost those few months... _

_No... I'm not playing the 'what if' game... I won't do that to myself! But I swear... if he's going to put himself in God knows how much danger again... I'm going with him..._

_After we got evacuated for that fake gas leak... nothing was more frustrating than standing outside... waiting. I'm not doing that again._

_I can't be so close to losing him after just finding him again... I can't. But he'll be putting himself right in the firing line too. He'll try to save lives; save his lab... he won't even think about himself, or what it would do to me if I lost him..._

_So I'll be right by his side... every step of the way. From now on, that's how things are going to be. I'm not going to be the girlfriend who stands on the sidelines with her fingers crossed; praying things would be ok... _

* * *

Mac took bad news quite well; better than other people he knew. He'd dealt with much heartbreak in his life, a lot of sadness. Claire's death had devastated him; rocking his very core. And even though he'd spent so many sleepless nights at his desk or with glasses of whiskey getting over that, he was slowly letting it go. Not letting _her_ go; he could never do that, but he was beginning to rebuild his life. Peyton was a shining example of that.

In his professional life, some did some cases hit him hard; and dealing with scumbags not even worthy of Hell could take its toll on you. But plenty had turned personal too, like the 333 or suspect x cases.

Some cases got personal with his friends too, which often hit Mac just as hard. Stella's ordeal with Frankie and Danny's involvement with Tangle wood had really got to Mac. When Shane Casey had gotten Hawkes arrested, when Lindsay had to return to Montana to testify, when Flack had nearly died in the bomb blast... when DJ Pratt had killed Aiden...

All had knocked Mac back, had worried him and caused him so much stress he wondered if he would pass the next compulsory department physical. But like the team he cared so much for, he'd gotten back up, brushed himself off and carried on, doing what they all did best: catching the bad guys.

But not this time; this time there was no obvious bad guy to catch. The bad guy was some obscure chemical, threatening to harm, possibly kill his beloved team, maybe even Mac himself as he'd been in the building earlier.

And all Mac could do is pray that the taxi driver would magically find a way back to _his_ lab as fast as humanly possible. All he could do was sit in the back seat, completely powerless to help anyone.

After explaining his phone calls, he'd looked at Peyton, who was quite obviously stunned into silence. Her eyes were closed as she listened to him, and he felt another twinge of guilt for scaring her. She hadn't flown halfway around the world to be dragged into the middle of a HAZMAT evacuation.

But Mac's guilt trip came to an abrupt halt as the taxi pulled up. They had arrived.

* * *

Mac jumped straight of out the cab, but didn't once relinquish his grasp on Peyton's hand. He'd tossed some bills at the driver and rushed straight towards the lab's entrance. They barely made it past the curb when the couple became surrounded with people.

"Detective Mac Taylor?"

The man who spoke had a very slight build. He was scrawny and pale, with the impression he didn't spend much time out in the sunlight; resembling a withering plant.

"Yes... and you are?"

"John Goldman, I'm from the HAZMAT intelligence and liaison unit. I need you to tell me all you know about the substance collected, and please be quick; time is of the essence here, Detective."

The man's tone was sharp, not even acknowledging Peyton's presence. The trio had yet to move away from the edge of the sidewalk.

"As I told you on the phone, Mr Goldman, I'm currently investigating a different case. The Suproxin was collected by two of my CSIs, Detectives Bonasera and Monroe."

"Well they have yet to make an appearance Detective Taylor, so..."

Mac abruptly interrupted him, not caring for any pleasantries a minute longer.

"What do you mean...? Where are they? Are they still inside? What about the rest of my team? Detectives Messer and Hawkes... what about Detective Flack... or Angell? Our lab techs? Adam Ro..."

The man cut across Mac just as bluntly.

"Let me stop you firing meaningless names at me detective. Not one person has left the building, no one had tried to, and in any event, that would be impossible."

"Impossible? Why, what's going on?"

"As I told you on the phone, either an evacuation or quarantine would be necessary. Our conclusion is that the substance is so dangerous, a full quarantine would be needed."

"Okay, so where are you taking us? Where are we going to be quarantined?"

"Detective Taylor, please appreciate the urgency of this situation... If contamination were to spread out into the city, lives could be lost... I... erm..."

Mac became icy cold in an instant. With a manner he usually reserved for suspects, he stepped closer to the smaller man in the most menacing way he could muster. He spoke slowly and quietly, deliberately intimidating the man before him. He asked one question, despite fearing he already knew the answer.

"I asked you where."

* * *

Peyton had yet to speak, but observed the interaction between the two silently. She clung to Mac's hand, like a child would to their favourite blanket. She looked back and forth between Mac, standing tall and powerful, and the small man now visibly cowering underneath Mac's harsh gaze.

Peyton couldn't help but think about her younger sister Megan. When she'd been in London, she'd been introduced to her sister's boyfriend – Slug - a guy with blue hair, tattoos and almost as many piercings as Megan. One night, Peyton was dragged along to watch 'Slug' play a gig with his band.

She had been cautiously avoiding physical contact with anyone in the grimy bar, for fear of catching something; the standards of cleanliness were below abysmal. She'd flatly refused to allow her sister to take her to the 'Mosh Pit', not knowing what it was, but guessing from its name she wouldn't like it.

Instead, they'd stood at the edge of the stage while Peyton's eardrums were assaulted by noise she'd never describe as actual music. She'd turned to her sister with the purpose of excusing herself; she couldn't bear to be in the noisy, smoky, sweaty place any longer. However, when she looked at her baby sister, Peyton had found a dreamy expression upon her face as she gazed up at Slug on stage.

After a while, Peyton nudged her sister in the ribs inquiringly. Megan had responded by raising her voice above the combined racket of the music and the crowd, and yelling into her sister ear:

"My boyfriend's a rock star!"

Peyton looked at Mac and realised her face probably held the same expression that Megan's had. He wasn't on stage, didn't have a crowd cheering him. But he was doing what he was good at... Peyton knew she should be pitying the small man, and maybe even fearing Mac. But she couldn't. She loved him when he acted like this; it made her feel stronger, safer; protected... He was her rock star.

* * *

"I asked you where"

"Detective Taylor... in order to reduce contamination, I... Um..."

"Where?"

"Here... sir."

It was the answer Mac had been dreading. Despite expecting it on some level, it still left him seething."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, HERE?"

"Sir, if you'd please just..."

"You told me it was dangerous! You're just going to leave them in there with it? And how long do you expect them to be able to stay in there? They don't have provisions or..."

"Ah but Detective, we're getting a team suited up now, they're going to deposit supplies and instructions to your team to make them comfortable while..."

"While they're killed by a dangerous chemical?!"

"No! We haven't yet determined the severity of the..."

"You want my team to stay there? You're out of your mind..."

"With all due respect sir, this isn't your call. We have to keep the rest of the city safe too..."

Mac didn't interrupt him. He let out a sigh, feeling utterly defeated. The man was right, it wasn't his call; the ball was out of his court. He made one last ditch attempt at getting his team out of harm's way, into a different facility.

"You realise people have already been in and out don't you? My team's shifts are over now... they could have already gone home... the team from night shift will be on their way in... I was in there earlier when Detectives Bonasera and Monroe returned from their scene... I..."

"You were inside? Was she?"

The man gestured to Peyton for the first time in the interaction."

"Yes I was, Dr Driscoll wasn't... but..."

Before Mac had a chance to finish his sentence, John Goldman had stepped far back from Mac, and gestured to some of the other people stood in the vicinity. Almost immediately, four men in the trademark large yellow HAZMAT suits stepped forward. Goldman said a few inaudible words to them and they stepped forward, ushering Mac into the building.

Mac's hand was pulled from Peyton's as he was frogmarched back towards the atrium of the building. He couldn't think of words to say, and instead simply mouthed "I love you" at her, before Peyton was obstructed by a sea of garish yellow. He didn't have the chance to see her mouth "I love you too" back in his direction.

* * *

For her part, Peyton stood shell shocked as her boyfriend was almost dragged away from her. She stared at the spot he'd last been standing, before she was pulled out of her daydreams by the cabbie who'd brought her and Mac from the airport.

"Excuse me... ma'am? You left your bags in my trunk..."

Peyton's voice didn't seem to work. She tried responding a few times, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Ultimately, she simply nodded to the bemused driver, who set her luggage on the ground next to her.

She grasped the handle of one, desperate to hold something, as her hand seemed horribly empty after Mac's departure. She stood alone, in the middle of chaos; a forlorn figure surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a crisis.

_What was it I decided?_

"_I'll be right by his side... every step of the way. From now on, that's how things are going to be. I'm not going to be the girlfriend who stands on the sidelines with her fingers crossed; praying things would be ok..."_

_And where am I? On the sidelines. What am I doing? Praying things are going to be okay... Great!_

Peyton looked at the pale little man, now triumphantly giving orders to numerous people. He obviously thrived on power, loved being in a position of authority.

_Little weasel... Okay... Take a leaf out of Mac's book... Go knock him off his little pedestal..._

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the building, seven people were stood in a descending elevator. As the doors opened, Seven pairs of feet went to move forward... and then abruptly stopped. Seven pairs of eyes widened as they looked out into the atrium of the building. And in unison... seven mouths dropped open.

The atrium was crawling with yellow suits. All around the entrance doors, plastic sheeting had been taped up, blocking out any view of the street outside. There was new equipment being carried in through the plastic sheeting, people talking into cell phones and walkie talkies everywhere. Stella and Danny softly whispered the same word in unison.

"HAZMAT"

The occupants of the now stationary elevator looked at one another; fear, nerves and shock present in almost everyone. Adam subconsciously stepped closer to Kendal, as she tightened her grip on his hand.

Stella shuffled around, taking her weight off Hawkes as she prepared to step off the elevator first, jaw set. Hawkes said nothing, but pulled Stella back towards him, preventing her from putting weight on her injured leg.

Lindsay stared into the atrium with wide eyes. She reached around her back and pulled Danny's arm away from her body, and reset it around her shoulders. She stepped closer to him, sliding her arm around his waist, resting her hand lightly on his chest.

Danny looked at her with surprise, but responded by taking his other arm around her too, hugging her tight. He pressed a gentle kiss onto the top of her head as she sighed quietly.

Andrews looked up from his feet, and stared out into the chaotic mess in the atrium. He looked around at his six companions, focusing on each one for a few seconds. He looked out again to see Mac being marched towards them by men in the HAZMAT suits.

"Mac?"

Stella had evidently spotted him too, and her words brought everyone else's attention to the men approaching them. A hundred questions rose in the throats, but never left anyone's lips.

Mac was bundled into the elevator without a word from the HAZMAT crew. Apparently, all necessary conversation had been exchanged. Yet another faceless yellow suit appeared in front of the doors and pressed a large box into Mac's hands. It spoke in a monotonous voice, as thought repeating words said countless times before.

"Please remember that you can't leave the building at any time. Don't open windows; don't unseal the building in any way. Further supplies will be administered in due time. When necessary, a member of the HAZMAT team will contact you. Until then, you can all consider yourselves in quarantine."

Seconds after the voice finished; the doors slid closed, blocking out the atrium once more, leaving the elevator in a stunned silence.

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**A/N – Phew... So you guys know the drill... I _love_ reviews hint hint lol... xxx**


	20. Chapter 20, Ding!

**A/N - **

**Ok – first off, before I celebrate getting more of this story up, I seriously need to apologise. I've had lots of loyal readers (not to mention reviewers) with this fic, and I feel bad that I've left you so long with no updates.**

**Basically, when I came back from my holiday, I found out my phone line, digital TV and broadband had all been cut off (whoops on my part. But hey, cut me some slack, I'm 17 and only left home a few months ago, I need some practice at this crap :P).**

**However... it's all been reconnected now (yipppieeee) and although I didn't have the internet for a while, my laptop was still fine, so I've written the next the chapters, which are all going up now. I have the next few after that planned out, but I'd appreciate reviews before I finalise them, so I know if people are liking the direction of the story.**

**I also apologize to anyone who has sent me a PM or left a review – I usually try to personally reply to each and every one, but with me not having the internet, I've forgotten who I've replied to and who I haven't!**

**Again, I'm so sorry! My room-mate and I are determined to keep on top of stuff now... so hopefully this won't happen again lol! I hope I haven't lost too many people during the break... and I hope you enjoy the next instalment!**

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**Chapter 20 - Ding!**

As silent as the descent had been, the elevator's journey upwards was plagued with the anxious speech of many people all at once. It had taken several seconds after the elevator doors had slid to a close, for the dire news to sink in to the occupant's minds.

For those several seconds, all the present crime lab employees had simply gaped around at each other in stunned, silent disbelief. Then, almost in unison, each person seemed to grasp the reality of the situation, and each tried to break the growing silence of the elevator.

Danny spoke forcefully, actually angry about their situation. He kept one arm around Lindsay's shoulders, but with the other made gestures to illustrate his speech, waving his hand then using his thumb to point upwards towards the roof of the elevator.

"Nuh uh... No way! We aint staying here... I'm sorry, but that chemical thing up there? That's brought HAZMAT down here for a reason... We aint staying around that... we can't! Come on, someone press the ground floor button... we gotta get back downstairs..."

Lindsay loosened her grip on Danny too, both standing a little further apart than they had been. But neither broke contact with the other either, with Danny's arm around her shoulders. Lindsay had slid her arm from around Danny's waist, but she didn't take it away, instead absentmindedly hooking her index finger through one of his belt loops.

"So... they expect us to just go up there sit around like good little CSI's while being infected by some kind of lethal chemical bio-weapon? Are...are they kidding? We can't stay here... we gotta find some way out... through the basement parking lot maybe... ooh there's the back entrance we use for deliveries?"

Adam's instinct told him to lighten the mood. He tried to do so; aware afterwards that he had failed miserably. To accommodate for the sudden arrival of Mac, he and Kendal had separated, letting their hands fall limply to their sides. With Mac now standing between them, they couldn't join up again, for which Adam was slightly thankful. He made a mental note to ask either Danny or Lindsay what Mac had said was his policy about office relationships.

"Hmmm... boy do I wish I'd phoned in sick today... Um...So...that guy...what did he mean...'further supplies'? Are we getting big yellow suits or something? Or does he mean like food and water and stuff? ...God... how long are we going to be here?"

Kendal found her words wouldn't quite come out. She was still in a fair bit of shock, having never been in such a situation before. After a few beers with Adam once, she'd managed to drag out little pieces of information about the Irish Mob case, a few months before she started at the lab. She remembered feeling immense sympathy for all her colleagues, but at the same time being quite thankful (and feeling guilty for feeling it) that she hadn't had to experience it. She didn't deal well with stress.

"Did he just say we're being quarantined here? Oh my God... we're gonna die..."

Hawkes had a million comments to make and observations to voice. Most of them were sarcastic or scathing towards the HAZMAT crew. But he prided himself of being able to think things through logically and pick his words carefully, and so Hawkes, unlike many members of the team, addressed Mac directly. He had hoped this would gain him some answers, but Sheldon hadn't anticipated the sudden speech from the rest of his team, and so doubted whether Mac had even heard him or not.

"Mac... there's a good possibility that nobody's been around that stuff long enough to be infected yet... but without proper de-contamination and with further exposure to this stuff... it's going to be almost inevitable... Don't HAZMAT realise that? What else did they say?"

Stella's head was swimming. In her opinion, the day had finally given them one twist too many. She found herself being grateful that Mac was there, feeling the immediate relief that she wasn't in charge during the present crisis. Not being in charge gave Stella the opportunity to fire questions at her superior, rather than having them fired at her, another thing for which she was grateful. Focusing on Mac's face, Stella saw something as she was speaking that made her forget dangerous chemicals for a split second. She was about to question Mac about it when she stopped herself, realising that it was neither the time nor the place.

"Mac...? What's going on? Why are they keeping us here? We need to get out... Why can't they quarantine us somewhere else? What did they say? Is this temporary? Are they getting somewhere else ready? Hey... is that lip...?

Mac took the barrage of questioning silently, for several seconds before holding up his hand to halt the flow of his team's speech. They all ceased talking immediately. Mac turned to his left, deciding to go from one question to the next. The first person his eyes met was Adam.

"Adam, I honestly don't know what he meant, and I don't know how long we're going to be here."

Mac turned slightly more to his left, facing Danny and Lindsay. He fought to keep his face impassive, despite his surprise at the close contact between the two CSIs. From his talk with Lindsay about her mistake in the lab some months ago, he'd assumed things were over between them. Nevertheless, Mac continued his speech.

"Danny, no one's pressing anything, we're not going back down stairs. Lindsay, we're not going down to the parking lot or anywhere either – we're not going to break out of here, we're cops not felons, remember?"

He saw them both smile, Lindsay blushing slightly, but didn't smile back. He'd now come to Andrews. He didn't actually recall the new la tech saying anything, but with a guilty twinge realised he may have just had selective hearing. To cover up the slightly awkward growing silence, he just nodded guilty at Andrews before turning to face Stella, who was still leaning on Hawkes. Mac addressed the doctor first.

"Sheldon, I'm guessing that HAZMAT know what they're doing – at least I hope so. As for de-contamination, we're just going to have to use our initiative here. We all carry spare clothes in our lockers, we're just going to have to shower ourselves and get changed – it's all we can do. And further exposure? We just keep the hell out of the room the thing's being kept in."

Hawkes nodded dutifully at him, taking in Mac's words completely without further questioning, for which Mac was grateful. The next pair of eyes Mac saw were Stella's

"And Stell? Yeah, it appears we're being quarantined here doesn't it? I've already told them to take us somewhere else, but apparently that will put the rest of the city in danger... so I'd guess that they're not taking us anywhere else anytime soon... and erm...what else did you ask again?"

* * *

Stella was about to reply with a slightly sarcastic answer when a shrill 'ding' announced the elevator's arrival at their destination.

The doors slid open once more, and seven of the occupants felt the chilling sensation of déjà vu. However, this time there was no busy hustle and bustle to greet them as the doors parted, merely an empty, sinister looking deserted lab.

* * *

An empty lab was an unusual sight for all of the crime lab's employees, but nevertheless, the occupants of the elevator stepped into the silence, most shooting furtive glances around them. Members of the team had simultaneously felt the mood of their situation lift once their leader had returned into their midst.

As if justifying this, Mac once again took charge again once they were back on their own floor. He walked out first and moved just far enough away from the doors, so that the members of his team could all get off. Mac waited until the doors had closed once more before he began to address his team for a second time.

"Ok where was I?"

Stella was the first to notice how little Mac seemed to be fazed by their dire situation – he was treating it as 'all in a day's work'. But she noticed, with affectionate pride, that this was the way in which Mac handled most aspects of his job. With a small smile, she carried on listening to her friend.

"Alright everybody, I'm sure I don't need to emphasize the severity of this situation to anyone; you've been aware of it longer than I have. Nevertheless, there are some things we gotta do...

Okay... I'm going to be contacting the CSIs and lab techs from night shift – I guess they get a night off while we sort this mess out. We also need to get everyone who came into contact with the original crime scene to be put under similar measures. Stell, there's going to be a lot of phone calls, and seeing as you were the primary on the case, I'm going to need you to help me out on that... Okay?"

Stella could see he was in the middle of a speech, and so simply answered him with an affirmative nod. But when she realized she'd have ample opportunity to talk with him, maybe ask him a few questions, and that realisation brought a wry smile to her face.

Misinterpreting Stella's smile, Mac carries on talking to the group as a whole.

"Good, the numbers are in my office, we'll head down there in a minute. We also got told not to open any windows, so I think we better make sure none of them already are. Someone is going to have go around our floor and check..."

"What about the other floors? Is someone taking care of them, or are we expected to? I thought we were meant to stay here?"

Hawkes interrupted Mac with the same quiet yet thoughtful logic he was known for, throwing Mac off momentarily.

"Honestly Sheldon? I don't know, but I was given this guy's card... a... John Goldman. He works with HAZMAT. I'll call him after I've made the other phone calls, see what he has to tell me. Well observed, though..."

"What about the air conditioning?"

This time, it was Adam who spoke, and when the team looked at him questioningly he blushed, yet repeated and expanded on his question.

"The... erm... air conditioning? Don't the air vents take air in and out of the building? Shouldn't we close them off too? I think the over-riding system should be somewhere in maintenance or janitorial... I could go find it if you want?"

"You're right – good point Adam... But er... I want you to do something else..."

Mac paused for a moment and looked around him. His gaze settled on the break room, at which he gestured whilst saying: "Come on, you've all been on shift a long time, let's go sit down."

* * *

**A/N - Alright, the first chap in around four months - i hope it didn't disappoint! If it did - read the next bit lol, you just tell me where you think i'm going wrong! Like i said, i hope i didn't lose too many people in the break!**

**Thanks for reading! xx**


	21. Chapter 21, Look Away!

**A/N – As promised, this is going straight up, and I'll probably post the next chap sometime tonight to get the story going, as these chaps have just been dialogue and stuff.**

**I just want to put out a mention to Laurzz. If you haven't checked out her story **_**"why **__**did you have to go?"**_** yet, do it now! I've been missing out on the past 30 chaps or so, which I'm really gutted about!**

**But I can't believe how her story has grown so much. It's over 100 chaps now – yet it started out as a one shot, can you believe it? Anyway, I just wanted to mention it, as she was so incredibly supportive of me, and I love her stories so much! I'm about to catch up on what I've missed now – and I recommend anyone to join me - anyone who loves a good ole D/L story will be in for a treat! But who am i kidding? I bet most people have read it already!**

**Anyway – on with the story...**

* * *

**Chapter 21- Look Away!**

The team filed into the break room and took their places. Stella (once again trying not to limp on her painful ankle) made a beeline straight for the couch, where she was joined moment later by Kendall and Adam. Mac grabbed one of the high bar- style stools and positioned it in front of the sofa and sat down. Danny, Lindsay Hawkes and Andrews headed around the back of the sofa where there were three remaining high stools. Seeing this, Adam stood up.

"Er... Lindsay, you wanna sit here?"

Lindsay, along with the two other women present beamed at him, then answered; "No it's okay... thanks though – that was real sweet of you".

Danny and Hawkes both motioned for her to sit on the stools they were heading for, to which she responded by saying she's sit on the work surface that ran along the wall behind them.

"Guys, you won't be here long, I just wanted you all to be comfortable while I spoke to you about some things..."

Mac's not-so-subtle way of telling them to hurry up had Lindsay nod and hastily try to push herself up backwards onto the work surface, forgetting her injured wrist for a moment.

Whether Danny anticipated her hurting herself, or whether he saw Lindsay's face crumple as she bit her lip, she didn't know. But she could barely contain her surprise when, he grasped her hips and gently lifted her on the counter without a word. With a small grin he simply turned and placed his own stool very close to her and sat on it, facing Mac as though nothing had ever happened.

Andrews was already perched on his stool, staring intently at Mac, and after looking at Danny's cheeky grin and Lindsay's shy blush, Hawkes chuckled slightly before taking his seat, and looking at Mac himself.

"Okay, now we're all good, I'm just going to be honest with you. You're all adults, and I'm not going to sugar-coat this for any of you. I also want you to know that the only briefing I received was about 6 muffled sentences from a guy in a yellow suit as I was frog marched into that elevator."

"Yeah, well that's six muffled sentences more than us Mac, so spill..."

Danny was obviously in a good natured mood, smiling at Mac as he spoke.

"Alright Danny, I'll spill... I don't trust HAZMAT. I'm sure as an organisation they do a lot of good, but those people down there are holding something back from us, and I want to know the full story. Adam, I don't want you to worry about the air conditioning because I want you to use every ounce of your computer skills to find out everything you can about this... Suproxin. And I mean everything, from its chemical composition, to its molecular structure... I want newspaper articles, textbook extracts, incident reports... anything you can find. And erm..."

Mac's voice dropped an octave.

"See what you can find out what the symptoms of contamination are... what treatment is given and so on... you think you could find all that out in around an hour?"

Adam replied with a slow nod, not sure what his voice would sound like. Danny took advantage of Adam's silence by asking Mac how long they were going to be there, and beside him, Danny felt Lindsay's leg stiffen.

"Unfortunately Danny, not one of those six muffled sentences divulged a possible timescale for this... quarantine. Like I said in the elevator, I honestly have no clue how long we're going to be here. But hopefully, with the information Adam can get us, we can look at past events where Suproxin and similar substances have forced a quarantine situation, and perhaps estimate how long ours might last."

"Woah, woah woah... hang on here Mac... could they actually keep us here for a while... as in possibly days... possibly longer?"

Stella broke into the conversation forcefully, not even giving Mac a chance to reply to her own question.

"This is ridiculous! They can't keep us here – they just can't! By keeping us here in this... place, they're serving us all with a death sentence. They could have quarantined us in any other facility Mac – there are hospitals and military bases with buildings far better equipped to handle this kind of situation, and instead they're keeping us here, around the chemical... thing and putting us all in greater danger!"

"Stella, I think you need to calm..."

"Don't you DARE tell me to calm down Mac Taylor...!"

* * *

The rest of the team, who had been staring at Stella during her sudden, loud outburst, suddenly looked away; out the window, at their feet, at each other, just anywhere that wasn't Mac or Stella.

They felt the awkwardness of the situation creep over them. Although all most members of the team were sure their two bosses would have had numerous quarrels in their time working together, and although the team sometimes felt the tension following one of those disagreements, both Mac and Stella had always remained professional enough to keep them strictly private – until now it seemed.

There was one member one the team however, who was gazing curiously at the growing argument. Andrews looked from Mac to Stella and back again, his head remaining stationary, but his eyes darting as though following a tennis match.

Danny, Lindsay and Hawkes were exchanging identical 'what shall we do?' looks before noticing the direction in which Andrews was looking.

Being the closest, Hawkes whispered out the corner of his mouth... "Andrews... ... look.. away...!"

* * *

At that point however, Stella had come back at Mac with a particularly loud and high pitched retort, which left no doubt in Hawkes' mind that his advice to Andrews had been drowned out.

"...that is so besides the point Mac! I cannot believe that you of all people would just hand over the reins to HAZMAT in a situation like this! They are putting all of our lives at risk and you are letting them! Do you even care? Do you even value our lives at all? What about your own...?"

Hurricane Stella had finally blown herself out. She'd run out of steam and she knew it. Stella also knew that her anger lay not with Mac, but with herself (and more specifically the part of herself responsible for the broken piece of technology currently residing in her pocket).

Ignoring the pain shooting up one of her long legs, she pushed herself up from the couch and found herself at the coffee machine, although she wasn't remotely thirsty. She needed something to occupy her hands, and she needed to keep her back to the rest of her colleagues for a moment whilst she composed her face.

* * *

Lindsay felt rather conflicted at this point. She knew that the smart thing to do would be to stay where she was and wait for normality to resume its position within the lab. However, she was also aware that Stella was obviously upset, needing a friend. Lindsay was wondering if she should go and help Stella make the coffee no one wanted to drink.

Just as Lindsay was hearing the opening bars to '_Should I stay or should I go'_ by The Clash, Mac carried on with his team talk and made up her mind for her.

"Well that was enlightening, thank you Stella. I thought we were a team, I thought we were in this together. Is there anyone else wanting to go lock horns with HAZMAT? Anyone else feeling particularly rebellious towards me or our situation or something?"

It took less than a second for Lindsay's hackles to be raised. Mac was acting like a teacher making an example of an unruly pupil. The few seconds of tense silence following his questions was broken by the soft tap of Lindsay's shoes as she slid off the counter and hit the ground.

And although he'd been expecting some form of response, the moment he heard the 'tap' sound next to him, Danny realised that this argument was about to grow.

* * *

Mac, for his part, was shocked. He should have nipped the petty quarrel in bud straight away, and he had fully intended to. But when all eyes had turned back to him, he hadn't known what to say at all, so he'd voiced whatever babble had been in his mind at the time.

And now at the back of the room, a thunderous Lindsay Monroe was standing upright, silently glaring at him, next to a clearly exhausted Danny Messer, who looked as though he knew what was coming next, and didn't like it one bit.

Mac had intended for his questions to be completely rhetorical, not expecting a response at all. They had merely been fillers while he tried to remember where his speech had previously been heading. The rational side of Mac told him to ignore the dagger looks he was receiving and carry on with briefing his team, the sentimental side of Mac was amused and even a little proud to see Lindsay here taking the heat off Stella for a while. Yet another side of him was just annoyed that this was being carried on. He was sure Stella overreacted because of something else which was playing on her mind, and he had certainly retaliated more than he should have, and that was probably due to all that he had on his own mind at the moment.

Against his better judgment, Mac said quietly; "Do you have something you want to say, Lindsay?"

"Yes, actually I do. I'm not feeling '_particularly rebellious' _and I don't want to '_lock horns with HAZMAT_' as you put it..."

Lindsay had allowed Mac to set the tone, speaking as quietly as he had. Stella had known him much longer than she had, and Lindsay had enough respect for her boss not to yell in his face. However, she had quoted him with as much venom in her voice as she could muster.

"... but a team? You think that's all we are - a team? We're human beings Mac! We are in this together, but do you want us to die together too? This isn't a suspect throwing his weight around – this could be fatal... to all of us.

It's bad enough that we work around the clock... Stella and I were processing that crime scene for eight. God. damn. hours. (Without a break too, I might add!) And what do we have to show for it? ...A mess in the evidence locker and some dangerous chemical that could kill us and our team!"

* * *

Everyone heard the guilt in her voice as she finished her sentence, and everyone searched for the right words to say to relieve that. Hawkes found them first, trying to catch her eye as he spoke gently;

"Linds... you know no one blames you. Nobody could have guessed what your evidence could have been; you can't blame yourself... either of you. It's just the job."

Danny, Lindsay and Mac were all about to say something in reply, when Stella began to talk. Her voice was now quiet, almost sounding defeated; which was highly unusual for Stella.

"It's just the job? How much does this job want? We put our lives on the line every day to catch criminals and put them behind bars."

Stella paused for a moment to turn around and face her colleagues once more. She looked at each face before she carried on talking.

"What? Do some of you have amnesia? Mac, Hawkes... you were both here with me... in this very lab, when were running around trying to stop men from the Irish Mob stealing back their cocaine. We had to blow a part of the lab up to save our own lives!

Lindsay! Lindsay got bitten by a snake when she was just processing a car... AND she nearly got shot during an impromptu undercover operation against African blood diamond smugglers!

Hawkes! Not only was Hawkes trapped in here with us that time, he nearly got framed for murder by Shane Casey AND nearly drowned last year when he was diving to collect evidence. He was only saved by Danny who has had his fair share of drama, haven't ya Dan?

I mean, aside from everything Tangle Wood, you nearly suffocated in that panic room, and was then held at gunpoint by the perp, you ah... you go jumping across buildings and on the back of motorcycles trying to apprehend people, and you were in physical therapy for months with your hand after you were held hostage in that warehouse.

Jesus – even Adam got dragged into that mess – those bastards used him like an ash tray!"

Stella's voice had been slowly rising again as she turned around the room, focusing on one person and then the next. She turned back to face Mac, and her voice dropped low again.

"Even Aiden died trying to nail that scumbag... Haven't we all done enough yet? Haven't we risked enough? Mac, we've all proven that we're willing to do anything in the course of this job, to protect people, to protect this city. Our team is being kept here to keep this city safe from contamination, a city we all work to keep safe on a daily basis. But now, who's going to keep us safe?"

* * *

Mac forced himself to meet Stella's eyes, and once he had, he allowed his gaze to trail around the room. He thought carefully for a moment about what he was going to say, and when he did so, he spoke in a warmer, less business-like voice than he'd been using.

"We're going to keep each other safe. There are things we can do, steps we can take. You asked me if I valued our lives Stella, of course I do. I worry about the safety of this... our team, every. single. day.

But all the good we've done here, every time we have risked our lives... If we break this quarantine right now, then we risk contaminating one of the biggest urban ares in the world. And that would pretty much cancel out any other risk we've ever taken don't you think?

For all we know, every one of us is already contaminated or infected with whatever this Suproxin does, but there are millions of people out there that are safe - does anyone here want to jeopardize that?"

"Mac... we weren't saying that we..."

Lindsay too used a much softer voice when answering her boss, and she was interrupted gently, with a smile and a nickname Mac hardly ever used.

"I know you weren't Linds. You and Stell were trying that whole 'girl power, ganging up on me' thing. You were just looking out for her, and that's what we have to do, we all have to look out for each other."

Danny reached forwards slowly and snaked an arm around Lindsay's waist. He barely needed to use any force to pull her gently against him as he sat, and she leaned back into his embrace, feeling his breath on the side of her face as he said to Mac;

"We will."

* * *

Every occupant of the room could feel the tension slip away. They were all aware that there were still some heightened emotional states flying around, but for the moment at least, everyone was focused on the tasks ahead, as Mac began delegating jobs once more.

"Okay, so Stella and I are going to be making all the necessary phonecalls, Adam, you're going to be researching Suproxin..."

"Yeah, actually Mac, there's quite a lot to be done in an hour, do you think you could spare someone to help me out?"

Adam stole a glance at Kendal, who was looking right back at him with a coy smile: she'd understood him loud and clear. Apparantly, however, Mac hadn't.

"Of course Adam, that's absolutely fine. Umm, Andrews... you're going to be helping out Adam with the research, okay?"

* * *

A short while later, it was decided that Hawkes and Danny would move around some furniture, such as the sofa from Mac's office, to make the break room more comfortable for the undetermined duration of their stay. And they'd also gather supplies that had been stocked in the supply closets in the new post 9/11 safety procedures.

"And that leaves Lindsay and Kendal - are you two okay with making sure the floor is sealed? You know, what I said about closing windows and what Adam mentioned about the air conditioning and so on?"

Both women looked at one another sheepishly before Kendal spoke up.

"Sure - except i don't know where the janitorial closet is..."

"Well it could be in boiler room too - i don't actually know where the a/c controls are... Lindsay - do you know where you're going?"

Lindsay smiled apologetically at Mac; "Well i've never actually had a reason to go to either you know... when i'm not in the field I..."

She was cut off by Danny's laughter beside her, the arms that were around her waist shook slightly as he did so.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Messer, real funny... Let me guess, gonna come out with a country girl joke? Because before you say anything, we did have air conditioning in Montana!"

"No - I was going down the 'new girl' route, and..."

"New girl? I've been here more than three years Danny - when is that going to get old?"

"Maybe when..."

This time it was Mac who cut Danny off.

"Alright you two, knock it off... I take it you know where to look Danny? Good, you go with Lindsay then, and Kendal, you can help Hawkes gather supplies and move things around? Okay everybody - you all have something to do. We're going to meet back here in one hour, and we'll discuss where we're going from then.

Good luck everyone!"

* * *

**A/N - In case you were wondering, I haven't forgotten about Flack & Angell, or Peyton. They'll all have a part to play sooner or later... grins Thanks for reading!**

**Also the line: "Andrews... ... look..away" i may have 'borrowed' off another T.V show (only with a different name lol) What can i say, it inspired me :P Can anyone name that show? lolz **

**xxx**


	22. Chapter 22, Round Two

**A/N - So like i said, I'm trying hard to stay on top of UDs! Thanks you so much to those of you that reviewed - it's nice to see i haven't lost everyone during the break!**

**I want to apologize to KickassScot though - i said i was putting Peyton in this chap, and she's not. However, this is the longest chap i've written yet, and i didn't want to ramble on too much. I guess i can get carried away writing arguments LOL. Anyways, expect her to make an appearance very very soon...**

**Also to Laurzz - the queen of D/L fluffy moments - Thanks for your advice D/L wise! When it makes an appearance (and it will, just see the set up i've created at the end) you shall have full credit for it chick! :P**

**So, shall we go on with the show...?**

* * *

**Chapter 22 – Round Two**

"Okay everybody - you all have something to do. We're going to meet back here in one hour, and we'll discuss where we're going from then. Good luck everyone!"

Mac dismissed his team with the ease of someone who did it every day – they knew by the tone of his voice that their meeting was over. Danny got to his feet first, keeping his hold on the woman leaning back against him. He was clearly eager to start the time he was about to spend alone with her.

For her part, Lindsay was surprised to see Danny get up so fast, expecting him to relinquish his hold on her once they were both upright. Noticing that he had no intention of letting her go, however, she turned slightly in his embrace so she could smile up at him.

Noticing Danny and Lindsay rise beside him, Hawkes also got to his feet, and began to chat to Kendal over the back of the sofa.

"So, you wanna go check out the supply closets first? Work up towards the actual hard work and possible heavy lifting?"

Kendal stood up to enable eye contact whilst talking to the doctor, and observed Adam jump up as soon as she began to move.

"Sure Doc, sounds like a plan."

She hesitated slightly before continuing, touching Adam's forearm delicately as she did so.

"I'll see you later Adam..."

Lindsay and Danny meanwhile, had mumbled goodbyes to the team before exiting the room, Lindsay slightly in front, with Danny's hand now resting gently in the small of her back.

After stopping for a moment to say something quietly in Stella's ear, Lindsay then allowed Danny to guide her out of the room and down the hall. Moments later, many of their team saw Lindsay pull the hand away from her back, and tentatively hold it within her own before they both turned a corner and disappeared from sight.



* * *

Hawkes had been watching the young couple's exit, leaving Kendal curious as to what had put the proud smile on his face. She followed his gaze just in time to see Lindsay take Danny's hand, and wondered to herself exactly what the crime lab put in its water.

With a broad smile at Adam, she left the room with Hawkes, looking back through the glass walls to see Adam still staring after her. She didn't think twice before flashing a sly wink at him, before turning back to Hawkes and engaging into conversation with him as they walked away.

Adam was blankly gazing at the place Kendal had been in when she'd winked at him, cursing his own bad luck, and wondering if there was anything he wouldn't give to be in Hawkes' position at that time. He looked around to see Mac and Stella giving him sly glances with the clear meaning of _"Get out and give us some privacy"_, although both were too polite to say so.

He stood and turned to see Andrews already watching him and was unnerved to say the least. He quietly mumbled something about them getting on with the research as they began to leave the room, Andrews following Adam's every move like a lost puppy. At the moment he realised the comparison between his colleague and a canine, Adam decided that no, there was nothing he wouldn't give.

* * *

Stella watched the team leave in pairs, two by two, until only she and Mac were left in the room. When it was only the two of them left however, she found the only place she could now stare was at her feet.

She was leaning against the counter upon which the lab's employees prepared meals and snacks to get them through a shift. In doing so, she had relieved her injured leg of any weight, but found it still throbbed painfully.

In looking at her feet, she saw that the ankle joint of the afflicted leg had become rather swollen, and had a distinct reddish tinge, resembling Lindsay's wrist a little. A few moments after Adam had finally got her silent message and left with the new guy, Stella saw a pair of black shiny shoes appear right in front of her bare feet.

Exhaling, she looked up and found herself reflected in a pair of blue eyes standing not two feet away.

"Stella, I'm sorry..."

"Look I'm sorry, Mac..."

Speaking at the same time, they tried to talk again;

"I didn't mean to upset..."

"I wasn't accusing you of..."

The same thing happened again, and both Stella and Mac momentarily forgot their earlier disagreement as both faces cracked into a smile.

"You know what they say, great minds..."

"Think alike?"

Stella finished Mac's sentence for him, tilting her head to the side as she did so. It took him barely a second to raise an arm, inviting her into a hug, which she readily leaned into.

"You haven't yelled at me like that in a while" Mac spoke into the masses of brown curls that were currently obscuring his vision.

"I haven't needed to in a while"

They both leaned out of the embrace and resumed eye contact, grinning as they did so.

"Friends?" Stella held out her hand, which was immediately taken by Mac, as he repeated the word back at her as a statement, rather than a question.

The friendly handshake quickly turned into another friendly hug, as though both parties conformation that there was no longer any conflict between them.

As they broke apart, Mac let his face hold a broader grin as he asked Stella a question, which she immediately retaliated to.

"So you gonna tell me why you're not wearing any shoes?"

"You gonna tell me where you went off to?"

They left the break room side by side, as their friendly banter continued.

"You gonna tell me why you're limping?"

"You gonna tell me why you've got lipstick on your collar?"

* * *

Mac stopped dead, his hand flying up to his collar as Stella laughed heartily at him, a few paces in front.

"Don't worry, I don't think anyone else noticed... they're all too busy either sorting out their dysfunctional relationships, trying to start a dysfunctional relationship or worrying about whole mortal peril situation we got going on here...

Oh Mac don't look at me like that! Come on we got a lot of phone calls to make in one hour... but you better catch me up on the way to your office..."

She tried to illustrate her point by walking a couple of steps in the direction in which they'd been heading, but failed by grimacing in pain. Mac simply raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"What? You not gonna tell me all about your booty call?"

"Ok one, it wasn't a boo..."

"Yeah yeah, well if you told me, then I wouldn't have to make such deductions would I... come on Mac, it's me! Are you going to tell me?"

"That depends, you going to accept a lift to my office?"

He walked a couple of steps towards her with his arms outstretched, palms facing upwards.

"Oh please, like you could carry me to your office... ...oh I'm sorry. I'm going to interpret that death glare as _'I'm Mac Taylor – former marine – I can do anything...'_ Look, it doesn't even hurt that much, okay?"

"Stella – it's not like you weigh much... and it obviously hurts..."

Both Stella and Mac looked at each other, and then at their surroundings. It was a stalemate situation, and they were both aware the playful teasing would have to end soon to allow for them to complete their task within the hour.

"Stella – it's simple, just get on my back and I'll feed your gossip addiction, okay?"

"No, it's not okay. I'm not some damsel in distress you can just..."

"Wanna hear about me and Peyton, or not?"

Mac laughed inside as he played his trump card and watched Stella's eyes go wide. After repeating Peyton's name a few times in shock, Stella hastily accepted Mac's offer and he hoisted her into a piggyback with ease, despite claiming the opposite;

"Hey Stella... you quit your gym membership or something..."

"Hey, you can just pipe down, I'm in better shape than you – now come on, you're giving me a piggy back, we're movin' forward again, tell me everything! And start at the beginning!"

"Just wait until we're in my office, okay?"

"Aaaw Mac – is this because I made fun of you? I'm sorry about the 'Marine' comment..."

"Forgiven... I'm sorry about the gym comment..."

"Forgiven... This whole piggyback thing... You would have told me anyway wouldn't you?"

"Yup"

"Damn it"

* * *

Mac stood in front of his office chair and let Stella slide slowly into it. Stella began to speak as soon as he lowered himself into the chair on the opposite side of his desk.

"You know, as much as I want to recreate high school and bug you for info about Peyton, my boring adult side is squashing my inner child and telling me to get some of these phone calls done..."

"Remind me to thank your adult side..."

Mac broke eye contact and began pulling numbers out of his rolodex and laying them on the desk.

"Oh come on – look at you! You're dying to tell someone! Okay – let me ask you one quick question – no wait, two quick questions... and then we'll do these calls, okay?"

Mac stayed silent, but inclined his head to encourage Stella to continue. He picked up a number from the desk and began dialling it, letting his finger hover over the button to connect the call.

"Ok, is she back for good, and are you two back together?"

Mac hit the button to connect the call and heard it ring before answering quietly with a huge grin;"

"Yes... and yes"

Stella tried to contain her excited squeal as Mac began talking on the phone, and Mac tried to contain his chuckle at Stella's reaction. They both failed miserably, allowing themselves a moment before flicking to a completely business-like persona.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Mac and Stella had managed to call most members of the night shift team and the supervisor of the cleaning crew, and Mac had just slammed the phone down on a damn right annoying John Goldman when he looked up at Stella.

"I. Hate. HAZMAT. I swear – that man is being deliberately uncooperative! Okay, so HAZMAT have hijacked most things – they've contacted everyone from the original crime scene, and have got a crew down there, so we don't need to worry about that – but then the guy is reprimanding us for contacting night shift! Apparently, that's not our place!"

"Deep breaths Mac..."

"Yeah... one good thing though – I told him that he could contact Sinclair – one less battle for me I guess..."

"See, there you go... the glass is half full after all! And seeing as HAZMAT just gave us some time on our hands – you can fill me in with everything that went down between you and Peyton!"

"You're like a pit-bull with a bone aren't you? And we're not quite done, we still gotta call Flack, I guess he should be put under similar measures too..."

Mac was busy putting the numbers back into his rolodex, and so missed the fleeting look of worry that crossed Stella's face, for which she was glad. Deciding to avoid that topic all together, Stella hastily changed the subject.

"Uh uh, I don't think so mister! I'll call Flack in a minute, first off, you can fill me in..."

Mac looked up with a smile and leant back into his chair. He knew he was a man who rarely shared things and rarely showed his emotions, but this was his best friend after all, and this was one thing he'd scream from the rooftops if he could. And so Mac shifted in his seat into a more comfortable position and told Stella all about his reunion with Peyton, from her phone call, to when he had to leave her at the curb.

Stella listened intently, resting her chin upon her hand while she observed Mac's eyes light up as he talked all about their encounter at the airport and 

so on. She couldn't help but lament on how much it sounded like a movie – so romantic, so cute, so perfect!

When he'd finished, she couldn't help but realise she'd slipped into a dream-like reverie; like a child listening to stories about prince charming and whichever princess he happened to be rescuing that day.

She also felt a penny drop somewhere beneath her bouncy curls.

"Hang on; you just left her outside... on the curb?"

Mac looked extremely sheepish, misinterpreting Stella's disdain.

"I know I shouldn't have just left her there – but what could I do? Drag her into this mess?"

"Yes Mac, that's exactly what you should have done!

"Stella – don't be so dramatic! I haven't been to the crime scene; I haven't come into contact with the Suproxin... What are the chances of me being contaminated, never mind me passing that on to Peyton, and then her to..."

"That is NOT the point Mac – the point is that you are so full of crap! You're just a great big hypocrite – making me and Lindsay feel bad for not wanting to die in here... you make us feel guilty for wanting to get out... saying that we'd contaminate the city... when YOU! You're risking that yourself just to keep your fucking girlfriend safe!"

"That is out of line – if you..."

"No Mac – YOU are out of line! You turn a phrase and give us this big speech and... and then you make us all trust you... and you have our whole fucking team running around this God damn lab – which could potentially kill them – I might add..."

"Like I said, don't be a drama queen Stella! The 'lab' isn't going to kill anyone, you're not in a horror movie..."

"Aren't I? Because it feels like someone has taken my best friend and replaced him with this Mac Taylor look alike! Is this what Peyton's done to you? Are you risking our lives because she means more..."

"Don't be fucking ridiculous..."

Stella was mid-rant when Mac stood up, slamming his hands on the desk, his deep voice booming. She'd hit a nerve and she knew it – Mac Taylor rarely cursed, and Stella hated to admit it, even to herself, but seeing Mac this angry actually scared her a little, and made her pity all the criminals he'd let rip at over the years. Nevertheless, she was riled too – temper or not, she'd give him a piece of her mind, even if they both said things they'd regret later.

* * *

"I'm not the one who's being ridiculous – you just can't see the bigger picture can you? It's like that horse all over again... you remember that, don't you? We needed the bullet that was lodged in it to break a murder case, and you wouldn't authorise the operation to remove it in case the horse died..."

"Yes I remember the case clearly Stella... What the Hell does it have to do with anything?"

"Well it's exactly the same – only this time, the horse is Peyton, and the bullet is the Suproxin contamination that could be infecting the city as we speak!"

"That is the most ludicrous bullshit I've ever heard... are you even listening to yourself? Comparing Peyton to a horse? Is this some catty female thing that I..."

"Catty female thing?"

"Yeah... you heard me... do you have some kind of a problem with Peyton? What, you want her to come up here and die along with the rest of us?" Is it me you're mad at? Do you resent that I actually have somebody now, and you're..."

"Mac..."

"Don't 'Mac' me! You know what I'm going to say! You're alone – and you want me to be alone too, just so it's not so lonely for you! Well that's not fair Stella! I was alone for years after Claire died – and I still miss her every day! And when Peyton was gone – I missed her too! Since Frankie, and then Drew... you've closed your heart off – you won't let anybody in will you? And if you..."

Mac was suddenly cut off by Stella leaping to her feet and slapping him hard across the face. Afterwards, they both just stood and looked at each other, both shocked that she'd actually done it.

Stella shifted her weight back to her good leg, wincing as she did so, and when she spoke, it wasn't in the fast paced, loud, high pitched yell she'd been using. It was softer, slower and more controlled, and it let Mac know he had hurt her deeply.

"F...Y...I... I have no problem with Peyton. She made you happy, and that made me happy – that is all I ever wanted for you. I don't want her to come 

up here and die, as you put it, or any other absurd suggestion like that you have.

My private life – is just that... PRIVATE! And who I go out with, or CHOOSE not to go out with has nothing to do with you. And if you ever ever use Frankie or Drew in an argument against me again... so help me God I will..."

"Stella, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... it was just heat of the moment... I just..."

"Oh I know what you just... But this is ridiculous. Think of every persuasive thing you said in that break room – convincing us to stay here to protect everybody else. Think of that – you're risking everything you described yourself... just for your girlfriend... and to feed your god damn hero-complex!"

"Hero complex? I beg your..."

"You heard me! Mac Taylor – first in at every scene... always puts himself forward for the dangerous situations... Even when we have SWAT with us, you always insist on getting in there first with your little handgun, compared to guys with specialist weapons..."

"Who do you think..."

"I'm talking to? Who knows? Like I said, you're hardly being yourself... So come on Mac, let's go all Freud... You have this incessant need to save people... even people who don't want or need saving. Why? Is it because you couldn't save those you really wanted to? That boy in Chicago...? Aiden...? Claire...?"

"Stella!"

Oh God. She's gone too far and Stella knew it. Here they were, having yet another shouting match in the middle of the lab. They'd only had a handful or arguments in their entire friendship, and yet today... well here they were having round two...

* * *

"Look, Mac I shouldn't have..."

"If you are so concerned with the 'greater good' all of a sudden, why aren't you on the phone to Flack?"

Stella looked up at him in surprise... Mac was her best friend, but he couldn't have guessed... could he?

"What?"

"Oh, you heard me. Why aren't you insisting on getting Flack into quarantine? Why are you keeping him safe?"

"I...I... I'm not... I"

Mac could visibly the fire in Stella's eyes go out. Whereas she'd looked strong and defiant before, now she just looked exhausted and upset. He'd obviously hit a nerve. He watched her sink back into her chair, all air of an argument gone, and Mac felt a guilty knot settle in his stomach. What had he said?

They didn't need a corny hug or handshake to call a truce this time, it was as though an unspoken agreement had passed between them that it was over, and Mac had come around the desk and crouched beside her in a moment.

"Stell... I'm so sorry! What did I say?"

Stella paused for a moment before answering, looking into his face, hovering low, and close to her own. The lines on his forehead were creased in concern, the eyes radiating friendly, comforting warmth, and an angry, red palm print marred one cheek. Nevertheless, he placed a large hand on top of her own, which sat clasped together in her lap.

She was suddenly overwhelmed with remorse – she had said such horrible things to him, slapped him, made fun of him, and he was still next to her and trying to comfort her. The regret and guilt of it all, was too much for her emotions, which were already raw from both arguments.

Before she could stop them, two large tears rolled down her cheeks, falling off her chin and onto Mac's hand. Before Mac could utter another word, Stella had tightened her grip on his hand, stammering apologies;

"Mac, I'm so sorry... the things I said... I don't mean any of it... I take everything back... please don't hate me... you're my best friend... Mac I'm so sorry..."

Mac was nothing less than shocked at Stella's sudden breakdown. He'd seen her cope better with much worse things than a silly fight. Not knowing what to say, he simply wiped a tear from her cheek with his thumb, and pushed a curl out of her face. He handed her the handkerchief he kept in his pocket before speaking.

"You have nothing to be sorry for – we're both to blame. You cut yourself some slack – you keep so much bottled up Stel, you have to let something out sooner or later. Now... you wanna tell me what's really bothering you?"

Stella was dabbing away the last of her unexpected tears with Mac's handkerchief, when she was about to brush him off; blame it on the case or make a joke about PMS or something. But then she stopped herself, and contemplated how Mac had confided in her about Peyton – even told Stella how he'd asked her to move in with him. He'd trusted her, and now Stella owed him the same in return.

He didn't admit her feelings for Flack outright, but told Mac enough about their visit to Starbucks, and how worried she was for him, that she let Mac read in between the lines. She told him how Lindsay had whispered to her as she left the break room with Danny. Lindsay had told her to get over herself and call Flack, which made Mac chuckle; thinking how typical of Lindsay that was.

As Stella was telling him about her broken phone, and how she was oblivious as to the nature of the text, she saw the realisation creep across Mac's face. It had finally dawned on him what she really felt about Flack, and after a moment of brief surprise, he just smiled knowingly at her.

"That Lindsay is a smart girl you know... I hired her for a reason..."

Stella looked at him questioningly for a moment before realising this was his was of both giving his blessing and telling her to call Flack. She grinned at him, agreeing wholeheartedly before gesturing to her broken cell phone.

Mac didn't say a word, just took the phone from her hands, extracted the sim card, and inserted it into his own phone.

"Read your text... then call him. And if he knows what's best for him, he'll have his ass down here in no time."

Mac pressed a kiss to Stella's forehead before getting to his feet.

"And seeing as we have no more calls to make, I'll give you some privacy... see how the rest of the team is getting along."

They shared a smile before Mac began walking towards the door.

"Wait... Mac!"

He turned back to face her. "Yeah?"

"Look, about before... I'm..."

"Me too."

"And about the phone... and the pep talk, I wanna say th..."

"You're welcome Stel."

"We good?"

"Aren't we always?"

She had no words left to say, just smiled at Mac as he left the room with a nod.

**And there we go ladies and gentlemen... chap 22. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me :P _R&R :D_**

**Much love for reading! xxx**


	23. Chapter 23, Irish Coffee

**OMG – no wonder people were asking after Flack and Angell – they haven't made an appearance since chap 14 – that's EIGHT chapters lol! Well, I guess like me, they may have had a lengthy absence, but also like me – they're back for good! :D**

**MAJOR thanks to my awesome reviewers – love you all!**

**And this chapter takes place after chap 14, up until around chap 20 – it's a kind of "filler, what's been going on meanwhile lol"**

**I have no idea where the latter part of this chapter came from; these two OCs just literally appeared as I wrote this chap, as did their cafe. Sorry if they don't work, but once the muse creates something, she won't let it drop lol!**

* * *

**Chapter 23 – Irish coffee**

Angell remained impassive until the elevator doors closed, at which point she rounded aggressively on Flack.

"Alright – spill! What's up with Messer? What's with all the secrecy?"

"Me? Jess – it's you that needs to do the talkin' here! I saw ya getting all cosy with the Doc"

"You saw nothing Flack. And I know you and Messer are up to something... No! Don't you give me those puppy dog eyes – I wanna know!"

Jessica felt her confidence grow – just yesterday, those gorgeous blue eyes would have weakened her knees. But now – now she felt herself comparing them against brown eyes, to which the comparison favoured the latter.

It wasn't a negative feeling though, as she imagined getting over Flack would be. She hadn't lost him in any way, because she'd never had him in anything other than a friendly sense. In fact, it felt nice to be able to chat to him easily again.

The elevator doors opened into the crime lab's foyer, allowing the two detectives to step off, though they both paused for a moment after doing so.

"So how come we never had that Irish coffee? I thought you knew just the place?"

"I do, wanna go there now?"

"Thought you'd never ask Jess"

* * *

The two detectives decided to walk the six or seven blocks to the coffee house Jess had in mind – they both declared the other needed the exercise, when it fact it gave them both an ample opportunity to talk.

"So you gonna tell me what Messer's up to?"

"You gonna tell me what's up with you and the Doc?"

"I believe I asked first Donald..."

"Well that means you have to answer first Jessica..."

"You're impossible, you know that?"

"I've been told. But seriously, Messer? That is one ugly can o' worms I wanna leave closed..."

"Would it have something to do with the face that was sittin' on Monroe earlier today?"

"Whadda you think?"

"Aha... the saga continues..."

"Yup, so you and the Doc...?"

"Ok, ok... There is no 'me and the Doc'. I bumped into him at the lab; we had a cup of coffee. End of story."

They'd paused to cross a street, and Angell looked both ways before looking up at Flack to see him looking at down her with a patronising look on his face.

"What?"

Flack smiled and gently applied pressure to the crook of her arm until she began to cross the street herself, after doing so, he pulled his badge out of his pocket.

"You see this baby? I didn't get her by believing stories like that, Jessie."

"Yeah, well unless you want that 'baby' removed by a doctor from whichever orifice comes to my mind first, you won't call me Jessie again."

"Well you are friends with a certain doctor..."

They'd reached the other side of the street, and it appeared it was now Jessica's turn to look scornfully at her partner.

"Okay okay... jeez. You seem touchy today, a little hormonal perhaps? You know, you remind me of my sister – every month without fail she'd give us a few days of pure hell..."

"Yeah, well I'm sure your parents worried more when she skipped a couple of those hellish days."

"How'd ya guess?"

Flack winked at her, and was about to say something more when they heard a scream from further down the street. Both smiles dropped from their faces as they switched back into cop mode.

* * *

Flack put his hand on his gun holster as he began to dart through the crowd of people that usually occupied the streets of New York City. Out the corner of his eye he saw Jess a step or two behind him, as she too ploughed through the throngs of people in their way. She'd removed the radio from her belt and was speaking into it, reporting the incident back to their control room.

Suddenly, the high pitched squeal sounded again, this time it was louder. They were getting closer.

A second voice cried out – male this time. Flack heard Jess's voice barking into the radio the possibility of a second victim, and Flack drowned her out with the sound of his own voice, yelling at the people in front of him.

"NYPD, coming through... move... outta the way!"

Don spoke forcefully, trying to avoid knocking people to the floor as he barged through, all of a sudden the crowd parted and he found himself in the open; there was a circle of space in the middle of the sidewalk that everyone was avoiding. Some bustled around it, while many stood still and watched what was going on in the centre.

Next to him, Jess broke through the crowd too, and stopped sharp, taking in the scene in front of her.

A scream sounded again as a teenage boy pelted his female friend with a water balloon, the yellow rubber bursting, letting icy cold water splat all over her already soaking frame.

Flack looked sideways at Jess as she did the same back at him. They both saw their own expression mirrored back at them; sheer disbelief. And then they both saw the humour of the situation, laughing heartily.

Shaking her head, Jess spoke into the radio once more, explaining that it was a false alarm and then returning the bulky object back to her waistband.

Flack closed the distance between them, about to make a witty remark about teenagers, when a blast of icy cold water hit the back of his head, sending a river of chills cascading down his back. He put a hand up to the back of his head and pulled away a fragment of green rubber caught in the back of his collar.

He spun quickly, seeing more teenagers with balloons and contemplated arresting the culprit for assaulting an officer. He was distracted however, by Jess bursting into peals of laughter beside him, even bringing a hand to her mouth to try and contain it.

"I'm... sorry... Flack... But your face! That was just..."

Her breathless words, disjointed by the laughter which shook her shoulders were suddenly cut short as she was hit by a balloon herself, squarely in the chest.

"Oh my god! That's freezing! What are you grinning at, Flack?"

"Nothin', I just..."

Flack's own words were cut short too, as a blue balloon exploded near his feet, turning one of his shoes into a puddle.

"Hang on Jess... Hey! Your ass is mine, you little punk... get back here!"

Don's words were met by more laughter and jeers from the teenagers, as well as several more balloons thrown in their direction. It was only when Don got out his badge again that they all ran off, still laughing.

He turned to face Angell once more, and was met with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

"Your ass is mine is mine? Jeez Flack, how many movies have you been watching?"

"You know Jess, it's funny..."

"What is?"

"I never had you down as the wet t-shirt contest kinda gal."

"Shut up... this is freezing you know. It's not exactly summer out here. Come on, that coffee house is just up here..."

She slugged him in the arm before leading him into a small cafe 50 yards or so up the street.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the two detectives were sat in comfortable armchairs on opposite sides of a low table, right in the back of the coffee house. There were patio style wrought iron tables and chairs dotted here and there throughout the room, presumably for those dining there, as well as a couple of sofas and armchairs around the sides of the room, set aside for those wanting a relaxed break.

It was a small place, yet homey, cosy. There were black and white stills on the walls of famous Hollywood icons; above Flack's head was a photograph of Audrey Hepburn in her famous "Breakfast at Tiffany's" outfit, bringing back memories of the "Holly Go-lightly" jewellery store heist.

He smiled into his huge coffee cup. Don was sure he had cereal bowls that were smaller than this particular mug, and told Jess as much. He looked around, taking in the long, dark wood counter that ran the length of the cafe. On one end of it, a miniature statue of liberty stood elegantly, facing the room.

The parts of the walls visible behind the multitude of pictures were red brick, contrasting delightfully with the dark green metal beams along the very high ceiling. The purple chairs Don and Jess were sat on clashed wonderfully with the orange sofa opposite, as well as the rest of the decor, which made Don aware of the fact that none of the crockery or cutlery matched.

Jess had ordered her promised Irish coffee, drinking it in delicate sips, watching Flack take in his surroundings. He was aware that he had promised a chat with his friend, but he couldn't help but gape around him.

This place screamed New York, was less than ten minutes from the crime lab, was open until 11.30 at night... and he'd never stepped foot inside in his life. He couldn't believe he'd gone over thirty years without ever stopping in, he thought there was barely a place in the whole of New York City he hadn't been.

"I take it you like this place then?"

Jess smiled at him over the rim of her glass. She had been right – she knew he'd love this place. She'd discovered it late one night after wrapping up a case at the crime lab. It had been past ten thirty, it was raining and the rumbling in her stomach had her looking for the nearest pizza place.

Instead, she'd happened upon Mama Jane's and she'd ended up staying until closing, even helping to sweep up.

* * *

As if her thoughts had called him, Joe, the owner had ambled over, cupping her face within his withered hands.

"Oh Jessie! You not been see old Joe in so long... why you keep your pretty face away from me, eh? This guy been stealing you away?"

Flack was taken aback. Not only was this old man on VERY familiar terms with his friend, he was calling her Jessie, not to mention pointing a thumb in Flack's direction with a good natured wink. He could only sit and watch while the old man dragged one of the wrought iron chairs over to their table, even though it was much too high, and sat upon it.

The man's deep voice was marked with a distinct Italian accent, breaking out with Italian phrases now and then, even though Jess was making it clear she didn't speak the language.

"Oh we know you so busy Jessie. They work you too hard... and you have a much too pretty face to be working too hard. You need a nice-a husband to look after you, take care of you."

"Oh I know Joe, you've told me all this bef..."

"Ahh, old Joe knows – is this your man, are you bringing him to meet Joe and Mama? MAMA... MAMA... look who's come to see us... MAMA!

Jess knew she should throw an apologetic glance in Flack's direction, but she was afraid she'd burst out laughing. It was precisely the old man's forward and straight to the point attitude that had made her befriend him in the first place.

* * *

The first night when she'd slumped into one of the stools scattered in front of the counter, Joe had made her laugh. And he'd kept her laughing all night long; obviously guessing she'd had a rough day. After her first coffee, Mama Jane herself had appeared from the small kitchen in the back, immediately sensing that her husband was too bust entertaining one customer to serve any others.

Jess had noticed within minutes that all the other customers must have been regulars, all calling out greetings, to which she replied to all by name. Another thing Jess noticed, was that all her fellow patrons called her mama, even the toothless elderly woman hunched over a muffin, whom Jess had believed to be asleep until that point.

As one of five children, and as the daughter two career driven parents, Jessica had never been a child that received smatterings of attention. As she grew older, she realised that as the youngest, and the only girl, she probably received more than her brothers had, but it was still very little compared to most of her friends.

Not that she ever felt deprived, of course; she fully understood that she was privileged in many ways growing up. However, after an hour and a half with this couple, Jess felt as though she'd missed out on a whole chunk of childhood.

As the months had passed, and Jess visited the cafe frequently, she learnt more about the couple, and they of her. Her visits were by no means regular; sometimes she'd drop in every day for a week, sometimes she'd go a fortnight without having the time to drop by. But the couple accepted it and always welcomed her in.

At that point, Jessica was dragged away from memory lane as a deep, booming voice called out across the cafe;

"Jessie... oh it's Jessie- ca!!"

The woman split Angell's name as though it was in two parts, shouting out as she crossed the room.

"Mama!"

Flack had thought this encounter couldn't get more surreal, but he proved himself wrong as he watched Jess leap up from her seat, and accept the embrace being offered to her.

He observed quietly, seeing how Jess's face broke into one of the most genuine smiles he'd ever seen. If she'd looked remotely like either one of the couple, he'd assume they were relatives, as they seemed so at ease with one another.

Mama was a small woman, barely passing over five feet tall, but what she lacked in height, she made up for in girth, and Flack could see Angell being dragged down into a bone crunching hugs against an enormous bosom. Over her shoulder, Don could see glimpses of a kind looking, albeit weathered face, framed by several curls of jet black hair that had escaped the confines of a tight bun.

"Oh child, you need to eat something – look at you! This is what happens when you no come see Mama for so long! Lord knows you just go to skin and bones!"

* * *

Jess had lead Mama back to their table, where Flack had participated in one of the funniest conversations of his life. He was wiping a tear of laughter from his eye when his phone began to announce the arrival of a text message.

He flipped open the cell phone and scanned the message;

_Hi Don, r u still in lab? Or bk precinct alrdy? Let me know asap – v v v important!! Stell xxx_

Without a word, he immediately tapped back a reply before looking up into the conversation once more, giving the explanation of 'work stuff' when questioned.

Joe sucked in his cheeks and considered Don for a moment before speaking.

"Oh no... Jessie tell us you two are only friendly, yes?. She a pretty girl, I think a maybe you crazy man for that..."

"Joe!"

Jess's warning caused the older couple to laugh gently, Mama putting a course hand to Angell's dark wavy hair for a moment as her husband continued.

"Okay, okay. Joe make a little joke... ha-ha... but on serious side. Old Joe know when a man like a woman. And a whichever lady friend you just talk too" He made a gesture towards the cell phone. "She makes you happy in here." He tapped a wrinkled hand on Flack's chest, and silenced Flack's mumblings.

"You know it... and Joe knows you know it... and Mama knows you know it. You get your lady friend Donnie, and you bring her down to see us soon okay? Or we get Jessie to!" He leaned forward and spoke in a stage whisper.

"And you bring the man who putta that smile on Jessie's face too, ah?"

With that, Joe laughed at the mutinous look upon Jess's face and slapped a hand down upon his knee.

"Come on Mama, we leave young ones to it now. They have their coffee in peace, yes?"

Mama agreed readily, before making both detectives promise to return soon, and kissing them both on both cheeks.

After the couple had retreated back behind the counter, speaking to their other patrons, the young friends both exhaled slightly, before giving into a slight giggle.

"So that's why you bought me here?"

"No, I bought you here because this place does the best Irish coffee I know."

"They're right you know – Doc Hawkes has put a smile on your face. You seem different today... actually no. You've been different these past couple o' weeks. Today you actually seem normal."

"Gee thanks Flack, you know how to charm a girl, let's hope that's not the extent of your 'game'"

"I'm being serious here Jess..."

"Yeah well, they're right about you too."

"Huh?"

"The text, it was from Stella wasn't it?

Flack looked up at her in surprise, he knew she was a detective... but she wasn't a clairvoyant, was she?

"What...How did you know?"

Jess glanced wistfully behind her at Joe and Mama, now sending a young family's laughter echoing around the room.

"Like Joe said, she makes you happy in there."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Only to those with eyes."

She gave him a small smile before telling him what, as his friend, she should have told him a while ago.

"But she likes you too Don."

Don ran a hand through his hair before replying.

"She does huh? So, Madame Cleo, you wanna share how you know that little piece of information?"

"Oooh Don... Nicknames are so Messer's thing... But ah, let's just put it down to women's intuition, okay?"

"Riiight... well don't start dishing out the tarot cards just yet, she hasn't even texted me back."

"Look, there could be a million reasons for that – she's probably on a case! Besides, you only live once Don, what are you gonna do about it? How you gonna tell Bonasera you like her?"

"I..." Don downed the remainder of his second huge cup of coffee; "have no idea, and that _Jessie_, is a conversation to be had over a much stronger drink."

"Well, _Donnie_, sorry to disappoint, but you're still on shift, and this place isn't licensed to serve the good stuff. You gotta tell her though. You gotta put yourself out there, dive in head first!"

Don knew when she had him by the balls, and unfortunately for him, this was one of those times.

"I know."

Not expecting such an easy win, Angell realized their coffee break had reached an end. They both stood up, Flack paying for their drinks and leaving a very generous tip while Jess said her goodbyes. Flack accepted a handshake from Joe and a hug from Mama that nearly suffocated him before promising to return soon. As he and Angell finally left the cafe, he said quietly in her ear, "If I'm diving in, you're diving in with me _Jessie_".

* * *

They'd come to an agreement, as they walked back to the lab, Flack would call Stella, and Angell would text Hawkes. Flack was done first, having reached Stella's answer phone, and so guided Jess back down the quieter street while she had her nose buried in her cell phone.

They were almost at the crime lab, and she was just about the click send when she felt Don stop dead beside her and utter softly.

"Holy Crap"

* * *

**A/N – So there we go, chapter 23. I'm tired now, and the rain outside is making me even more sleepy, so if that was complete and utter crap, I apologize! :D**

**But yeah - still fancy dropping a review? xxx**


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